Chaos
by blairbear014
Summary: Phoebe didn't loose the baby. The baby is almost four and has never met it's mother. When one coincidence leads to the reopening of communication between Cole and the Halliwells, it's only a matter of time before chaos ensues. AU.
1. Disenchanted

**Summary: **AU. Phoebe didn't loose the baby. Cole came back from the Wasteland, as he did in the show. Phoebe tells him to stay away from her and that she never wants to see him again after what he;d put her through. He chooses not to fight back and try to show her she loves him. Instead, he followed her wishes and leaves her alone. He proposes a custody agreement where one parent got complete full custody and wouldn't be required to allow the other parent to see the baby. They chose to have the custody battle before the baby's birth. Phoebe and her sisters were confident that they would win and agreed to it, knowing they would be rid of Cole forever. However, the court ruled in Cole's favor because he had better conditions for raising a child. The court decided that due to living conditions, the baby was to live with Cole, and it was up to him, if he wanted to let Phoebe see the kid. He decided that since Phoebe made it extremely clear she never wanted to see him again, and that, had she won, she wouldn't have allowed him to see the baby, he wouldn't allow her to see the baby. As soon as the baby was born, Social Services came and took away the baby. They gave her to Cole. Phoebe has only seen her own child once, when she gave birth. She didn't even get to name her. Piper owns Quake and P3. Paige still works at Social Services, and has been trying to get Phoebe's kid back for the past 3 years, unsuccessfully. The baby is now almost 4 years old.

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A 3 year old woke up on a Sunday morning. Her dark hair was in what were supposed to be braids, but her father hadn't been very successful at making them. She was in her daddy's bed. It wasn't very strange, in fact. Whenever she wanted to talk about her mother, or if she had a bad dream, her father would carry her off to his bed and talk with her until she fell asleep. She always felt safe when she slept with him because her father was strong and he would never let anything hurt her, he'd told her so himself. She was his little princess and he loved her and he'd never allow anything to hurt her and that was why being around him always made her feel safe. She didn't have a mommy like other little children, but she had a better daddy than anyone else did, so she was lucky anyway. She would never trade her daddy for anything.

Last night, she wanted to talk about her mother.

Cole looked down at his beautiful little daughter. She always asked him the same questions about her mother and he always gave her the same answer but he guessed it was comforting to her, to talk about her mother. He never lied, about anything, to his daughter. He valued her more than his own life, and if he could pass his invincibility to her instead, he would do so.

Yet, everytime he looked at her, he would feel the sorrow and pain of loosing Phoebe. It would be enough to make him resent her if he didn't love her so much. His daughter brought so much happiness into his life that he could not focus on the negatives surrounding her birth. He loved Phoebe. He probably always would, but he guessed her happiness was worth loosing her over. He wouldn't have fought so hard to gain sole custody if she hadn't threatened that he'd never see his daughter because she never wanted to see him again. He saw his daughter's eyes flutter open, "Morning, daddy."

Cole smiled at the little girl, "Good morning, my little princess." His daughter giggled at his name for her and he placed a kiss on her small forehead. Her stomach grumbled and she looked up at her father guiltily, "I'm hungwie." Cole laughed and picked up his daughter, taking her to her own room. "Come on, angel. Let's get you dressed and we'll go get something to eat. Would you like that?" The little girl nodded as he dressed her. He remembered how difficult it had been at first. He was much better at undressing that he was at dressing. Now, he had the hang of it. He only had the hair to master, but he hoped that would be achieved in time for the start of school.

She watched television while he went into his room and dressed himself. He heard Regis' voice and laughed at the idea of a three year old watching 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' Yet, he knew how smart his daughter was. She always seemed to memorize all the answers on the show and acted more mature than children twice her age. He sighed, he should've never let her watch these shows. She was going to grow up too fast. Yet, she never seemed content with Barney or other kids shows.

He walked out of his bedroom and picked up his little girl. They eventually made their way down to the Porsche, a new one that Cole got when he became a father - the 911 Carrera Cabriolet in black. He pulled up to Quake. He knew Piper used to work here, and that was how he knew of Quake to begin with, but it was safe to go there now. She hadn't set foot in Quake since she purchased P3 and it was under new ownership now anyway. His precocious daughter, who was always asking questions, asked "Daddy, what's this place called?"

He'd noticed quickly that his daughter always liked to know everything. She was a lot like him in that way. He was glad for the pendant he'd created to control her powers in, because if she was anything like him, it would take a while to learn how to use them, especially when most of them were evil. He had a hard enough time fighting demons and keeping them away from her, taking her powers away made it harder for her to be found. If anything, no one dared to attack him anymore, not after he'd proven his immortality. Attempts were clearly futile. In any case, his daughter was filled with too much goodness to ever even consider taking over as the Source. He'd been worried, the child had commanded Phoebe to do some evil things when it was inside her, but it was without cause. His daughter might as well be an angel.

"It's called Quake, sweetie." His daughter smiled at him, "Like earf quake, right daddy?" "Yes, like earthquake," he smiles at how bright she is. He thought she would probably change the world someday, with her mind, not her powers. She didn't need them or the temptation that went along with them. As long as she wore the pendant, her powers were useless, and he made sure she wore it all the time. The only power she had was one she had inherited from him - the ability to heal her self from magical injuries. He allows his daughter to run in front of him and up to the hostess. They are seated at table three. Cole reads the kids' menu to his daughter because, as smart as she is, it was impossible for her to read so much so soon. She already knew her alphabet, shapes, colors, and how to spell aardvark. She knew to read 'red', 'cat', 'hat' and 'bat'. She could even write her full name down, which, considering how long it was, was a great accomplishment. She also knew all fifty states and where they were on the map, something he thanked his assistant for. Having a gay man who loved children was essential to a guy who brought his daughter to work nearly all the time.

Daycare was fine, but who knew if those people could be trusted? He only sent her three out of the five days in a week. He knew it at least gave her some social interaction and independence. Granted, it was a daycare for those who worked in his building, so she wasn't very far, but it felt nice to give her a bit of freedom. He liked it best when she was in his office with him or his assistant though.

"Table 3!" It was a common occurrence to hear table numbers shouted. It simply meant that a new table was seated or the order was completed. Piper realized someone had to go serve the people, and being bored as she was, she decided to do it herself. She took a notebook and a pen, leaving the kitchen for the first time that day. Two dark haired people sat at table three. She could only see the adorable little girl. She looked like a doll. Her hair was a deep chocolate color. Her hair was in two haphazardly made pig tails. She wore an adorable red dress and Piper could see her silver shoes from under the table. She asks the little girl, "Hey Cutie Pie, are you ready to order?"

The girl smiles at her and looks as if she is pondering. Piper watches with a smile as the little girl scrunches her eyebrows before finally nodding her head and announcing, "Chikn and mashed. Daddy?" They both look to the girls father who is looking at the menu. Piper's mouth drops open in shock, "Cole?"

He looked up from the menu to see Piper looking at him. He knew that voice was familiar. He hadn't wanted to believe it. This wasn't supposed to happen! Dammit. These people were supposed to stay away from him and his daughter. He smiled, "Hey Piper, what's up?" It wasn't as if Piper was Phoebe. He most certainly wouldn't be capable of seeing Phoebe, but Piper, she was alright. Her eyes got a bit teary. Cole resisted the urge to groan. He was used to his daughter crying but he still didn't know how to handle grown women crying. He saw her visibly choke back tears,"Is this her?" He couldn't lie to her, and he knew she already knew the answer, so he simply nodded as she turned to look at his daughter again, "My God, she's beautiful." The little girl smiled and said, "Thank you, you are very pretty." Piper smiled through her tears at her niece. Cole, sensing that he should say something, says, "Princess, this is your auntie Piper."

The little girl smiled widely and seemed to gain energy as she spoke,"Hi Auntie Piper, do you know my mommy? My mommy has two sisters, are you her sister?"

Piper chuckled. She almost couldn't believe what was happening. Her niece and former brother-in-law were here, sitting in her restaurant. She could not believe her ears, how much did she know of her mother? Had Cole honestly been telling his daughter about her mother all this time?

"Yes, sweetie, I am. What's your name?" "My name is Prue." Piper's smile widened as she looked to Cole.

"Prudence Melinda Turner." Piper was more than confused. Why would Cole, who'd been nothing but a jackass through this whole ordeal, name the girl after her aunt? "You named her after Prue and Melinda Warren" He nodded, "I hope that isn't your daughter's name. That could be strange somewhere down the line, if …." She noticed that he never completed the sentence. She understood now why he did everything he had done. She knew he probably would never be able to face Phoebe after she'd broken his heart. Yet, she wished he would see her reasoning! She wished he'd continued his sentence and given her hope that the cousins would grow up knowing each other. Piper sighed, "Actually I have a boy. His name is Wyatt Matthew Halliwell." Cole smiled, "Wow, that's great Piper, congratulations. I'm happy for you." Piper smiled, allowing herself to accept Cole. Maybe, if she made nice with him,and little Prue asked about her, they would establish contact. Perhaps Phoebe could even seen her daughter. "Thank you. For naming her Prue, too. I'm sure Phoebe would've done the same."

He hesitated and then asked, "I know… How is Phoebe?" Piper dried her eyes and felt some anger rise in her. How dare he! He'd ruined Phoebe's life and taken her child away from her. Her tone was biting when she said, "She's holding up. I'm sure she wishes she could see her kid but yeah, other than that, peachy." Cole looked down at his plate guiltily. Good, he should feel guilty.

It was another hour before Cole and little Prue left Quake. Piper didn't try to talk to him again, not wanting to irritate him and ruin any chance of further communication. She felt some hope when she saw the 50% tip he left her. Either he felt guilty or he was truly sorry for what he'd done, either way, Piper hoped it would work to her advantage. She wanted to know the sweet little girl. She left almost immediately after her former brother-in-law did. She needed to talk to Paige as soon as humanly possible.

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**A/N: Wow, haven't touched any of my Charmed fictions in a while. This was one of the first stories I ever wrote on here. I'm re-uploading it to fix the cringe-worthy writing of yesteryear. All mistakes are my own, I have no beta. Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it! **

**Reviews = Love  
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	2. Here It goes again

Piper walked into the house. She'd tried calming herself on the way home, but all she could think of was that precious girl. She dropped her purse on the table and slammed the door shut. A sudden panic overcame her. What would she say or do? She shouted for her sister, "PAIGE!"

Paige literally ran down the stairs, concerned and out of breath, she asked,"What's wrong?" "Nothing. Something wonderful happened today, is Phoebe home?" Paige was confused by Piper's attitude and wondered what could have possibly happened. She shook her head, slowly, "No, she just left. Do you want me to call her?" It was logical for her to want to call Phoebe. If something wonderful had happened, Phoebe should know as well. Should she not? "No! Let's go upstairs I have to tell you something." A very confused Paige followed Piper up to the attic. She was grateful that Leo had taken Wyatt to the park and wasn't there to worry about his wife's behavior.

The two sisters sat down on the couch after Piper locked the door. Paige warily looked at her sister, "Piper, what's going on?" Fear bubbled up in Paige's chest. What if Piper was possessed by a demon? This could very well have been a trap. What if Paige was about to die? She tried calming herself quietly. Piper looked at her hands, "Okay, you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. I mean it, not a soul. Living or dead, you cannot tell them. Actually, I don't want you even telling non-living things." Paige looked at Piper again, confused and worried, but wondering what could possibly be so important. Piper took a deep breathe, "I saw Cole today. He came to Quake." Paige's eyes widened in shock. She was speechless for a moment and then confused again, "On what planet is that great?" Piper laughed. Paige started to get annoyed. She understood why Piper didn't want anyone to know she'd seen Cole, it had to have been traumatic, but why would that be a good thing? Piper replied cheerfully, with tears in her eyes, "Phoebe's daughter was with him." Paige's eyes went wide and filled with tears. She thought she might never be able to speak or breath again. Piper smiled at her and the two sister sat together in silence. Quietly, Paige said, "You saw our niece?" Piper nodded at her and the two sisters sat together, speechless. Paige could barely process what happened.

"What was she like?" Paige secretly hopes that Cole doesn't treat the girl well and that he is an unfit father. She needed a reason to take her away from him. Sure, she wanted the girl to be happy but it would be okay if they kid had to suffer in the past in order to get to them. They'd make her happy. Piper smiled, "She's absolutely beautiful. She has chocolate hair. She's so polite and sweet. She's cheerful, too. She's so full of life, Paige." Paige smiled. What else could have been expected of a Halliwell.

Yet, Paige couldn't bring herself to be happy. If the child was still with Cole, they'd never see her. It was no use knowing things about her. It would only hurt them more. She pressed on, "But Cole treats her like crap, so you think we should fight to get her away from him,right?"

Piper looked away and drew a deep breath,"Paige, she seems so happy. She loves her dad, worships him, even. He calls her princess and I'm sure he treats her like one. You should have seen how she was dressed. Cole was even nice to me. He introduced her to me. Do you know what he said? He said,'This is your auntie Piper' and she knew. She just knew. She knew Phoebe had two sisters. She knew who I was. She knew about Phoebe. He tells her about us, Paige."

Paige grew angry, "Piper! You can't be serious! This is our niece, she's family. Cole is evil! We can't let her stay with him! You can't possibly be that quick to forget everything he did to us. He turned Phoebe against us! We need to get her away from him, we need to save her! We can't just not tell Phoebe about this, we need her to know! She deserves to know." Piper hugged her sister in attempt to calm her. After a silence, Paige's breathing got back to normal and her angry tears dried. Piper sighed and looked at her sister, "Paige, Prue is being treated like a princess. I can tell, Paige. Cole spends all his time and energy on her, she had his attention the whole time they were there. He even ignored phone calls that I'm sure were business. He has the money to spend on her and he isn't shy about it. He loves her." Paige digests what her sister just said, "He named her Prue?"

Piper nods,"Prudence Melinda Turner." Paige smiles, "A P name." Piper nods, "Don't worry, Paige. You don't have to keep this a secret forever. Just for a little while, okay? I just need to figure out what to do. I don't want Phoebe to get her hopes up." Paige bites her lip and nods at her sister. It would be beyond difficult to do as she is told, but it would be worth it in the end. At least, she hoped it would.

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**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed that. I'm working on re-posting the third chapter and then I'll hopefully post the fourth - the first new chapter since October 2007! This was one of my first fictions, and I want to continue it, for anyone who still reads Charmed stories. **

**Reviews = Love.  
**


	3. Replace Me

**Warning: Some slightly mature content ahead.

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"I hope Phoebe doesn't catch us talking like this," Piper tells her sister. Paige nods, they'd been talking for a while. Piper continued telling Paige about their niece until the front door was heard. Their sister's familiar voice filled the house, "Piper? Paige? Leo? Is anyone home?" Paige took the opportunity to orb herself and her sister down stairs. Paige puts a wide smile on her face. She is in a good mood, but still worried about how to face Phoebe. So, she says, "Hey Phoebe," as cheerfully as she can muster. Phoebe stares at her sister oddly. Paige smiles and looks away, willing Piper to say something. Piper rolls her eyes, "How was your day, hun?"

"Great. I got my work done for tomorrow morning and tonight's edition. I'm having dinner with Jason again tonight. The only downside is that I saw Cole today when I was walking to my car. He was going into the toy store across the street. That sucked. Other than that, my day was pretty good." Paige's eyes widen as she tries to ask casually, "Oh, you saw Cole? Did you say hello?"

Phoebe scoffs at her, "Why would I say hello to him? I have no words for him. He has my daughter. It's not like I can just go say, 'Hey how's the weather, and by the way how is that daughter I've never met?' "

Piper nods, rubbing her sister's back, "But, what if she was with him?" Phoebe is visibly upset at seeing Cole, and Piper tries consoling her little sister. Phoebe shakes her head, "She wasn't." It's not a moment later when Chris' cries fill the house. "I got him," Paige says as she exits.

There is a comfortable silence for a little while while Piper keeps Phoebe in a hug, contemplating whether she should tell her or not. Phoebe brings her out of her thoughts, "Piper,is it possible to love two people at the same time?"

"Yea, sure. Why do you ask?" Asking is only a formality because Piper already knows why her little sister is asking. Seeing Cole must have triggered her old feelings for him. Phoebe sighs, "Because, I think I'm falling in love with Jason. But, I know I still love Cole and I'll never stop. I wish I could but I can't, I love him and it won't go away." Piper nods, rubbing her sister's back again,"Phoebe, it's totally okay that you still love Cole. A love like that doesn't just go away. You can love two people but only one is meant for you. "

Phoebe's tears reform in her eyes, "Piper, what do you do when you know you can't be with the one that's meant for you? Instead you have to find someone not as great. Someone who you don't love as much? Someone who you know that you have to settle for, and try to fall in love with?" Piper pulls her baby sister into another hug and rubs her back. Piper's own heart is racing and she had to nearly bite her own tongue to keep from telling Phoebe she should be with Cole. She was being selfish in wanting to see her niece, yes, but having Cole around could only bring trouble the way it always has. They couldn't be around him anymore, not after what he'd done, not after he'd nearly killed them as the Source and then destroyed their lives. Piper tried to console her sister, "Shhhh. Don't cry, honey. Jason is a great guy. I'm sure you two can be happy. Just give yourself a chance. You're only doubting it because you saw Cole today. You're okay now, remember. It's okay. You and Jason are good together."

Phoebe takes a deep breath, "You're right. I'm going to go see Jason right now. I know, it's early, but I'll surprise him. We can be happy together." She smiles at her sister as she gets her purse and walks out the door. Paige's voice fills the house, "Piper! Chris wants you!"

Piper goes upstairs to see her son while worrying about Phoebe. Was it fair to keep this all from Phoebe? "Hey buddy, time for your nap." She smiles at her son as she puts him to bed. Tears form in her eyes when she remembers that Phoebe won't ever have this.

Phoebe drives up to Jason's apartment complex. She says hello to Tony, the doorman, as she walks past him. He stares after her as she goes to the elevator. Phoebe hums silently as she waits for the elevator to get to the top floor. She shudders, having memories of when she'd been doing the same thing, going to her and Cole's apartment. She shakes away the thoughts of her ex-husband. She could be happy with Jason. He was a nice guy and the complete opposite of Cole. She needed that. Sure. she didn't see herself ever marrying Jason and she wasn't entirely sure that she loved him (yet), but she could learn to love him. She really could. She would wipe her thoughts of Cole away.

As she exits the elevator, she hears moans coming from Jason's apartment. She assumes that he is simply getting a massage, as he is known to do. She quickly picked the lock and walked in quietly. The massage table was there, alright, but the moans were coming from the bedroom and there were clothes all over the floor. Her heart sunk as she took a deep breath. She opened the bedroom door to see Jason and some busty blonde having sex. Jason's head turned and he seemed angry to be interrupted, until he saw who it was.

"Phoebe! What are you doing here? Uh… " Jason quickly hops off the blonde and stands in front of the bed as he attempts to explain. "Oh, no, don't stop on my account. Goodbye Jason. Goodbye, whore." She walks away. She hears Jason yelling her name and telling her to wait, to let him explain. Yet, she is too preoccupied trying to get to the elevator and keep her tears at bay. She refused to allow him or anyone to see her cry. She ignored Tony as she exited the building. It was only when she was alone in her car that she broke down.

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**A/N: Okay, so finished rewriting what I had. I'm now going to type up the new chapter. My first update since 10/2007! I'm so excited. It's going to be short, most likely. I'm sick and it's late and I just want to get this out. **

**Reviews = Love. **

**Tell me what you thought!**


	4. Today was a Fairytale

"I cannot believe this." Paige was utterly confused. Of all things that had to happen to her big sister, now this? Phoebe cried in the shelter of Piper's arms. "How do you think I feel? Even Cole never cheated on me!" Paige looked at her sister helplessly. Piper gave Paige a comforting look as she tried consoling her little sister. She couldn't believe that bastard. How dare he? She had the mind to go kill him. Or better yet, tell Cole. She knew it would be wrong. She couldn't. Yet, she'd seen it all over Cole's face earlier. He loved Phoebe and he was hurting, too. She knew he would actually kill Jason, and she knew it wasn't fair to tell him. He didn't need to feel as though he should protect Phoebe.

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It wasn't until three days later that any of them mentioned or that of Cole. Or rather, Piper saw him again. He came in with little Prue. It was raining out and rather, despite the fact that it was July. She looked absolutely adorable in her little navy dress and tights with bright green rain boots. Her raincoat was also navy, but her umbrella was a bright green frog umbrella. Her hair was down today, her long bangs secured with an ivory colored bow headband. Piper went to their table immediately, "Hi, Prue. Cole." She smiled at both of them. The little girl smiled up at her, "Hi Auntie Piper. Daddy said I could come and see you again." Piper smiled at the little girl. "Do you know what you want for lunch today, sweetie?" Prue looked to her dad and then, seeing that he wasn't going to order for her, said, "Ice cream, please. Vanilla with as many sprinkles as you can find." She smiled sweetly as she finished. Her father laughed, "Nice try, Prue. You have to have real food first. Do you want a sandwich or macaroni and cheese?" Prue seemed deep in thought. "I pick B. Final Answer."

Cole laughed at Piper's confusion, "She likes watching 'Who wants to be a Millionaire?', ask her anything." Piper smiled and turned to her niece, not really believing Cole. She thought for a moment, trying to think of something a three year old would never know, "What's the closest planet to the sun?" Prue did not even bat an eyelash, "Mercury." Piper stared at the little girl, "How did you know that?" Prue smiled, "Daddy taught me. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and then Pluto. My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nice Pizza. It's easy. Daddy helped me learn to say them all." Piper stared at her neice, dumbfounded. Cole looked at his daughter with pride, "She's smart." Piper nodded. That much was obvious. She longed to know her little niece. She took Cole's order and left. When she returned, Cole asked if she wanted to sit with them, an offer she readily accepted. Prue ate her macaroni neatly with her fork. Piper noted that the girl always sat up straight. "She has such good posture," Piper remarked as she stared at her niece. Cole laughed, "She's obsessed with royalty. She'll curtsy to you, too." Piper laughed at that. She waited for her niece to finish chewing before she asked her a question, "Prue, what do you like to do for fun?"

She wanted to know the little angel's hobbies. Prue thought for a moment as she placed her fork down and folded her hands on the table. She'd specifically requested not to have a child's seat. "I like ballet. Daddy let me take lessons. I have a trampoline in our other house. That's fun. I like going to work with daddy. I like when daddy reads to me and lets me play with the piano. I was in the school play. That was fun, too."

Piper smiled at her. The girl seemed so busy and so ... _happy. _She knew now that they'd never be able to take Prue away from Cole. She didn't have the heart to rip the girl away from the father she loved so dearly. "Where is your other house?" Prue seemed deep in thought, even staring at her father a few times to try and figure it out. "Connecticticut." Piper laughed, "Connecticut?" Cole nodded. It wasn't much longer until an unexpected visitor walked into Quake and spotted them. "Piper, what are you doing?" Piper looked to her husband, "Leo, this is Prue. She's Phoebe's daughter." Leo smiled at the little girl and temporarily forgot about Cole's presence. It wasn't until he heard Cole's voice, "Prue, this is your uncle Leo. He is married to your aunt Piper." Leo looked at his former brother-in-law, a man he'd considered a friend for a long time.

Prue smiled up at him, "Hello. Do you know my mommy too? Aunt Piper knows her." Leo smiled at the girl, "Yes. She's great, you know." Prue nodded, "I know. Daddy tells me all about her. She can't see me though because that's the law and daddy is a lawyer, so he knows the law good." "Well, Prue. I know the law _well._" Prue nods her little head and closes her eyes quickly, commanding it to memory. "Jim told me that. I forgot. He said it was important to say you don't feel well instead of you don't feel good because it means your smart." Cole smiles at his daughter, "That's right, Princess, and you're very smart." She nods, "Yes, I am. Miss Davey told me so and she's the teacher at day care so she knows who is smart."

Leo pulls Piper away and tells her to explain. While the two argue, Cole and his daughter take their things, leave money for Piper, and leave. Piper is upset when she sees that they have left, and goes home with Leo.

Paige is shopping at an upscale boutique. _Bonpoint. _It is a French brand selling kid's clothing and other items. She wants to buy something for Wyatt with her paycheck. He deserves it for being such a great kid. Besides, his birthday was coming up. What she hadn't expected, at all, was to see Cole there, little brunette in bright green and navy in tow. Her heart stopped. She watched from afar as the little girl picked up a white dress, a plaid jacket, denim shorts, a floral dress, a navy dress, a polka dotted skirt, and a mustard yellow sweater. Her heart broke as she couldn't muster the courage to go talk to the little girl. She silently watched them leave.

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**A/N: WHOO! First update since 10/2007! I hope it was good. I'll post more soon! I know Prue is very precocious, but that's the point. She's _special._ By school play, she meant a play the daycare put on. If you're curious, it was _Cinderella_.  
**

**Reviews=Love.**


	5. Breathless

"Piper! I saw her!" Paige walked into the house, unsure of how she still felt about that little fact. She walked into the living room where she, unfortunately, saw Phoebe. Piper wasn't downstairs and Paige wasn't even sure her older sister was home. "Saw who, Paige?" "Uh.... is Piper here?" Phoebe raised her eyebrows at her baby sister. To say she was confused would be an understatement. She nodded her head slowly, "She's in the kitchen ... Paige, what's going on?"

Paige yelled for Piper, who came into the room quickly, "What? What's going on?" Phoebe shrugged, "That's what I'd like to know." Paige took a deep breath, looking to her sister. Seeing that Piper wouldn't be able to guess why she was panicked, Paige thought she could subtly pass the message, "I saw her." Piper's confused expression didn't offer any comfort to Paige. It took a few moments before Paige saw realization dawn on Piper's face.

"What's going on? Who did you see?" Phoebe seemed perplexed, and it was then that Piper's panic seemed to surpass Paige's own. Piper took a deep breath, "Phoebe. I have something important to tell you, and I've been trying to figure out how to say it. A week ago, Cole came into Quake." Phoebe nodded at her sister. Piper continued, "Your daughter was with him. He introduced us and let me talk to her a little. They were there again today. I didn't know how to tell you."

Phoebe stared at her sister, wide-eyed. It clicked. They had seen her daughter. Both of her sisters had seen her daughter. She hadn't even seen her, but they had. She envied them so greatly at that moment, even all the jealousy she'd ever felt wouldn't compare. She felt angry. How could anyone keep this from her? They had seen her daughter, and they knew how much she longed to know the little girl. "Phoebe, before you get mad, you have to know how much I wanted to tell you. We just didn't want to get your hopes up if it was just a one time thing." Paige's voice seemed to calm her sister a little bit. Phoebe's eyes closed and she took a deep breath. Her sisters had seen her daughter.

"What's she like?" Phoebe decided it would be useless to argue. If anything, this was a very good thing. They could tell Phoebe all about her daughter.

Piper smiled at her sister, "Beautiful. She's so adorable, Phoebe, I swear. She looks like a princess. She's so smart and sweet and polite. She even knew who I was. Cole tells her stories about you." Phoebe's eyes closed. That, she had not expected. She knew Cole would probably be a doting and loving father, her only consolation at his winning of custody. She knew her daughter would be smart and beautiful. She'd even thought that it was more possible for Piper to say the child was evil than it was to say Cole talked to the girl about them. "Like what?" Her voice was broken as she spoke. She tried to keep herself together. It would help no one if she started to cry again. She'd been doing too much of that anyway lately.

"She said you're very pretty, and that you're a good girl, and that you help people, and you keep people safe. She knew you couldn't cook. She knew you worked in a newspaper. She knew your favorite color was blue. She knew your name and that you had two sisters. I don't know what else she knows. He named her after Prue." Phoebe stared at her sister, willing herself not to cry. She was touched, he named their daughter after her sister.

It was another week that passed. Phoebe had gone to Quake for lunch every day, hoping to get a glance at her daughter. Piper had warned her against it, suggesting that they talk to Cole first and work their way into the little girl's life. She hadn't seen them all week, but Piper had. They came to dinner on a Friday and she hadn't seen them.

She went to the baby store with Piper on Sunday. When Cole and the little girl walked in, Phoebe's heart stopped. She was sure they hadn't seen her. They were with a man, probably a bit younger than Cole, who looked panicky as they trio walked to the newborn area. Phoebe hid behind some shelves and watched. She couldn't stop the hurt she felt at the thought of Cole having a baby with someone else. Her fear subsided when heard Cole's voice for the first time in almost four years, "Jake, man, you look like you're going to pass out. Trust me, you'll be a good father." His voice was smooth as ever. She watched as her daughter handed the man, whom she assumed was Jake, a package of diapers.

Her daughter, who had shoulder-length chocolate colored hair. She wore a short sleeved purple dress and purple, patent, quilted ballet flats. An ivory headband with a bow was in the little girl's straight hair. She was more perfect than she'd imagined her to be. The little girl smiled up at him, "I'm a big girl so I don't use diapers anymore but babies need diapers. If you're going to have a baby, you need diapers. Don't worry, babies are cute. They cry a lot but if you love them,it won't bother you but you have to be careful because they're squishy and you can hurt them if you're not careful." Phoebe felt her heart swell as she heard her daughter's voice for the first time. Jake looked down at the little girl, "Tell you what, small fry, if my baby is half as good as you, I'll be the luckiest guy alive." Phoebe watched as her daughter smiled up at Jake and then, to Phoebe's surprise, curtsied. Jake laughed, "You know, I think you're the coolest kid I've ever met. I hope my kid is as awesome as you."

Prue smiled up at him, "Thank you. Don't worry,you'll be a good daddy. My daddy says so and daddy is always right. Always. That's why he is a good lawyer, because he is always right." Jake laughed at the little girl, "She's really something, man."

Piper walked up to Phoebe, "Ph-," Phoebe shushed her sister. Piper's voice lowered into a whisper, "What are you doing?"  
Her question went unanswered by her sister, but instead, she heard Cole's voice, "I try. Your kid is going to be great, don't worry." Piper decided to go and say hello, much to Phoebe's protest, while Phoebe stayed hiding behind the shelves.

Piper walked out from behind the shelves and was greeted immediately by Jake, "Hey Piper! Cole, this is Piper, she owns an awesome club. She let me have my drinks for free that one night I went out with Matt when Anna wanted a divorce." Cole looked from his friend to Piper, "Hey Piper." She smiled in reply, "Cole. Jake. Hi Prue!" Prue smiled brightly at her aunt and curtsied, "Hello." Jake laughed and then turned to his friend, "Wait,do you know each other? How?" Piper looked to Cole, unsure of whether he would explain or lie to his friend. She didn't know what his colleagues and friends knew of the situation and she didn't want to blow his cover. Cole, on the other hand, seemed to only hesitate for a minute before answering, "Piper is Phoebe's older sister." Jake looked at them in understanding and surprise. There was an awkward silence during which no one knew what to say.

Prue looked up at the adults. She thought that maybe because she was so small, she had an advantage. From that level, at nearly three feet tall, she felt like she could see differently. When her daddy carried her, she could only see the obvious, even when she was most observant. She was very observant, _very. _Daddy told her so and that meant it was very true. Yet, when she was down here, she was able to notice _everything. _She noticed the way Piper's hands fumbled, the way her face kind of looked sad and the way her foot moved slightly from time to time. She always seemed to see differently than grown-ups. Daddy says it was called _perspective. _He promised to explain it more to her when she was four. She could not wait to turn four.

Her daddy had a look in his eyes that she could see even from down there. It was the same look he had whenever he wanted to ask a question. Aunt Piper was looking at him too, and then she nodded. Prue did not understand how grown-ups could sometimes talk without words. Her daddy says she can do it too, but she is too little to understand. She was not too little! She was almost four! That was almost a whole hand! Her daddy spoke for the first time in what seemed like hours, but she had a feeling that it was only a few seconds, "Prue. I'm going to go over there for a little while. Can you stay here with uncle Jake and aunt Piper?"

Prue filled with excitement. She loved her uncle Jake. He always was happy to play with her and he had two little sisters so he knew how to braid her hair. She didn't do braids very much because her hair was short anyway, and it felt nice to play with it. She liked how when uncle Jake braided her hair, it was pretty and curly later. He also loved to buy her presents and listen to her stories. He was her second favorite person in the world. She was also excited to see aunt Piper more because aunt Piper was family, and she knew her mommy, so she was important. She was happy to stay with them. Just this once.

Cole saw Phoebe as he walked behind the shelves. It was the first time he'd seen her in almost four years. Not that their last encounter was pleasant. His breath caught in his throat as he quickly realized he had no clue what to say to her. He watched as she stared at him, probably as much in shock as he was. He waited for her to say something. She didn't. He decided that if any words were to be said, he'd have to say them, "Hi." His voice held a softness he often only reserved for his daughter. Phoebe opened her mouth to speak but closed it again and looked at the ground. There was a minute of silence before she finally looked up at him, "Hi."

"So, I guess you've seen her, now." Cole spoke slowly. They might not be together anymore, probably would never be together again, but he didn't want to upset her. He never wanted to upset her. Phoebe took a deep breath before responding, "She's perfect." Cole smiled at that. He always felt full of pride when people complimented his lovely daughter. There was another silence, a comfortable one, as the two past lovers tried to find words. Phoebe spoke again, "Uncle Jake?"

Cole laughed. He'd wondered when she would ask about that. "Jake is one of my closest friends. Him and his wife, Anna, are Prue's godparents." Phoebe stared at him as he finished his sentence. Godparents? Why on Earth would she have Godparents? Sensing her confusion, Cole spoke again, "I, uh, had her baptized. She's technically Christian, Roman Catholic. I did my research. The only way to make sure her power is on the side of good instead of evil would be to either baptize her or have a wiccaning and it's not like I could have done that."

Phoebe stared at him blankly. She was at a loss for words. He'd done _research? _She found it hard to believe that the guy who was the Source of All Evil would take measures to ensure that his child was good. She wished there had been a wiccaning. Maybe now ... No, she couldn't get her hopes up. Piper warned her, even if they were able to establish some sort of contact, it would probably take a long time, and they shouldn't push Cole. Phoebe spoke again, "I bet she has a lot of powers. Which ones does she have?" Cole looked uncomfortable at her assessment. He shifted his weight as she waited for him to answer her. "I, uh ... I wouldn't know."

Phoebe stared at her husband, no, ex-husband. Had their little girl not yet gotten her powers? "Look, Phoebe. I had to do something in order to keep the evil from taking her over when she was born. I created a necklace for her. It captures all her powers, except the one to heal herself of a magical attack. I was going to take it away after she was christened into good, but so many demons kept attacking and trying to make her Queen. I just... she wears it all the time now. She doesn't know about magic, and I don't want her to. Not yet, anyway. I'm going to wait until she turns six or something like that. I want her to be normal for a little bit. I'll help her ease into her powers when she gets older." Phoebe stared at him. Her daughter, a Warren witch, wasn't using her powers. Somehow, despite the fact that she saw the logic behind it, she was upset by that fact. "Phoebe, I do it to keep her safe. She needs to be safe." Phoebe nodded at him. This was all too much in one day. "Tell me more about her. Please." She hated that her voice broke with the words. She refused to be weak in front of him.

"Her favorite color is purple. She likes fairy tales. She is obsessed with royalty. She doesn't like being around new people by herself. She has two stuffed animals that she loves, a bear named King Theodore and a rabbit named Prince George. She's really smart. She loves ballet. She likes plays. I took her to see Mary Poppins when we were in New York, and she wanted to be an actress for a good month or two. I think she's forgotten about it now. She likes being read to. Uh.... her favorite movies are _A Little Princess, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, and Roman Holiday. _She prefers snow to rain. What else? Uh ... she loves waffles. She eats them with strawberries and syrup. She hates cats. She won't touch peas. I don't know what else to tell you. "

Phoebe stares at him again, wondering how she'd allowed herself to miss so much of her beautiful life. The little girl, who looked every bit an angel, was a complete stranger to her. She hadn't even known what the girl looked like until under half an hour ago. "I... can I see her? Can I meet her? Please, Cole." She knew her voice was breaking as she spoke but she was desperate. She needed to know that little girl. What other foods did she like? What books did she like to be read? What else did she not like?

"Not yet, Phoebe. Not now." Even though Phoebe felt hopeful with his _not yet,_ it angered her that he was denying her that. The girl was right over there, it wasn't as if she was inconveniencing him by asking to see her own child. This was her baby, the baby she carried for nine long months where her hormones had been more out of whack than any pregnant woman's should ever be. Seeing Phoebe's expression, Cole continued, "She needs stability, Phoebe. I can't just put new people into her life all at once. She gets scared when too many new people are around. She met Piper, and then Leo, and she needs to adjust to them. She needs to get used to having some kind of contact with your family. I can't just dump you on her." Phoebe was filled with anger, "But I'm her mother!"

"I know that, don't you think I know that? Don't you think I've wanted to let her know you every single day? But you don't want to see me, Phoebe. You've made that more than clear, and me and Prue? We're a package deal. You want her, you get me, too. She's not going to want to be alone with you, even if you are her mother. She needs someone she trusts around when she's around people she doesn't know. If you want to start seeing her, you are going to be seeing me whenever you see her. You need to deal with that, and you need to deal with not seeing her everyday. I need to ease her into it. She's three. Being shocked by seeing her mother is not going to help her."

Phoebe stared at him again, eyes ablaze. She calmed herself down. _He's not saying no. He's saying eventually. This is good. Don't upset him. _She took a deep breath. He let out a frustrated groan, "Look, Phoebe. I'm going to Connecticut next week with Prue. We'll talk when I get back, alright?" She nodded softly, watching him walk away.

She saw him pick up Prue and twirl her around, much to her delight. The little girl giggled, showing her dad the toys she'd picked out for Jake's baby. With that, they said goodbye to Piper, Jake promising to visit P3 soon, and left. Phoebe watched Cole leave with his daughter and his friend. She didn't have a place in his life anymore, but she'd make room for herself. Now that she'd seen her, there was no way she was letting Prue slip through her fingers.

* * *

**A/N: In this story, Cole looks to be about 33, and that's what he claims. His birthday is January 19th, by the way.  
It's July 2006, almost four years since Prue was born.  
Prue's birthday is December 12,2002.  
Phoebe was born November 2, 1975, so she is 30 here.  
Piper was born on June 7,1973, so she would be 33.  
Paige was born August 2, 1977, so she would be 28.  
Jake is 27.  
**

**There you have it. My second update in two and a half years! Isn't it all so exciting? I hope you liked it. If anyone wants to know who I imagine as Prue, ask. I'll post it in my next A/N or I'll pm you. I'll update soon. Promise.  
**

**Reviews are my motivation for posting sooner ... **

**: )**

**xoxo**

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	6. Shore to Shore

Even though her father had already dressed her in her pj's and tucked her in, she'd quickly gone to his bead as soon as he left. She knew he was in the living room. She wondered if he was watching television or reading. It was a few minutes before he finally came into his room, and saw his daughter there, green plaid pj's and all. They were warm pj's, unsuitable for the hot weather in July, but she'd convinced her father she wasn't hot in them. Her favorite pj's were her purple ones, but those were in the wash. So, for the time being, these were her favorite. She liked the little pocket with the crown on it. Her father walked out of the room, and didn't come back for some minutes. She still did not know how to tell time, so she never knew how long people were gone for. She began to get worried, but before she could exit the room in search of her father, he came in with her favorite mug. It was a light pink color with a fairy princess on it. The fairy's dress looked like a strawberry, and she was carrying strawberries. That was Prue's favorite fruit.

She patted the area next to her, where her father soon sat down. She handed him the book she wanted him to read to her, _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. _She could not yet read the title itself, but she knew what the book looked like. Her father read it to her, a few pages every night and now they were nearing the end. She wanted to know how the story ended and her father had clearly forgotten to do so before. She took the mug from his hands and smiled at the sight of it's contents. Warm milk with honey was the best when daddy was reading to her. Though, she loved it at any time. It was better than tea. Her father agreed, too, so it had to be true. He kissed her forehead before beginning to read the last few pages of the book to her.

She smiled up at her father, finishing her milk just as he finished the book. He kissed her forehead again and put her mug on the nightstand. "Princess, we're going to the other house next week. You'd like that, right?" She nodded up at her father. She loved the other house. They had a trampoline and lots of nice children. Her daddy always took her to the beach there in the summer and sometimes he took her to the boats. "How long will we be there for?"

Her daddy settled into bed with her before answering, "Two weeks." She nodded her head. He didn't turn off the light. She guessed he must have seen how much of a big girl she was, because she was not tired. "Daddy, Ms. Davies says I need to tell the everyone tomorrow what my name means and why I have it." Ms. Davies was her daycare supervisor. She had taken a long time to learn how to say that word, and it never sounded right when she said it. Ms. Davies was a very smart lady but not as smart as daddy. She always wanted them to learn things, which made Prue happy because she liked to learn things. Her daddy shook his head, "What did I tell you about asking me school questions right before bed?" She pouted at him. She knew exactly what he said, but she really did forget. "Not to do it. But this isn't real school. It's not even normal daycare! It's summer time and no one goes to real school in the summer time." Daddy shook his head at her, "I know, princess, but you still can't do it, okay?" She nodded slowly. He smiled at her, which she was happy about because that meant he wasn't mad. She had only seen her daddy _really _mad once. He yelled and he put her in her room and there were crashes in the living room. He said there was a bad man who wanted to hurt her and he didn't like that, so that was why he was mad. She still didn't understand why anyone would want to hurt her, but she was glad to have her daddy to protect her. She would never tell her daddy, but that day was the reason she didn't like to sleep alone. Who knew what could come get her when she was sleeping? It was best to be with daddy who would never let anything hurt her. "Well, your name means good judgement. That means you know what is good and what is bad. You have that name because your mommy's big sister was named Prue, but she died. We were all very sad when she died and I thought it would be nice to give you her name." Prue looked up at her daddy and nodded. "So mommy only has one sister now?"

Her father shook his head, "No, she has two. She used to have three." Prue nodded. There was a small silence as Prue studied her father's face. She noticed that he looked tired. She only had a few more questions and then she would leave him alone. She told herself this. Her daddy had to work tomorrow, and she did not want him to be sleepy. "What does Melinda mean?"  
"Melinda means sweet. Someone very important in your mommy's family was named Melinda."

Prue yawned. She hadn't meant to, she really hadn't. She wasn't tired. Her father turned off the light, pulled the covers over her, and put his arms around her. "I love you, daddy."  
"I love you too, Prue." Prue went to sleep with a smile on her face.

It August. Prue loved August because the weather was nicer than July and September. She stepped off the airplane in her navy comfortable pants. They were not jeans, because those were not comfortable but they were not sweatpants or pj's because she forgot to bring sweatpants and she did not wear pj's outside. Whatever they were called, they were a navy color and they were very soft. She had a pink shirt and silver flat shoes. Her hair was tied up on top of her head but her bangs were falling out and she had to keep pushing them behind her ears. Her daddy carried her the whole way in the airport.

She was very worried when they did not drive to their house but to some other house instead. It was not even near where their apartment was and she didn't like going to strange new places. The house was very big and pretty but she did not know what they were doing here and she did not like it when her daddy parked his car in the drive way. She did not ask questions, she only stared at the house with so many windows. "Prue." Her daddy's voice made her stop staring at the house. She realized he was looking at her. "Do you like this house, Prue?" She nodded. It was a pretty house but she didn't know what they were doing there. She hoped her daddy wasn't planning on leaving her here. "Why are we here, daddy?"

Her dad smiled, "We're going to live here. Not right away, but soon. Okay? I wanted to make sure you liked it." She stared at him. What was wrong with their apartment? She had grown up in that apartment and it was close to Quake, where she could sometimes see her aunt Piper. She didn't know where they were. What if they were far away from the apartment and daddy would need a new job, and she'd never see Mr. Jeffrey or uncle Jake or Ms. Davies again?

Sensing his daughter's gradually increasing panic, Cole picked her up and carried her from the car and into the house. He held his precious little girl in his arms tightly, "Don't worry. It's a good place to live. Better than the apartment, I promise." She buried her head into his shoulder as he unlocked the door. Perhaps he should have taken her to see it before he bought it, but he'd just thought it was perfect. It was too big for them, sure, but what was the harm in seven bedrooms, really? She could have a play room if she wanted that. With her starting kindergarten in just one year, and all the best private schools in this area, he'd thought it best to move here. It was actually closer to work for him, there was a preschool near by still enrolling.

"Daddy, why are we moving?" He patted his daughter's back and knew that he should have consulted her about this.  
"The school you are going to go to next year is really close by. It's still close to the apartment. I promise, it won't be that different." She shook her head, eyes filled with tears as she gripped her rabbit, Prince George. "But I'll never see auntie Piper again or go to Quake or see uncle Jake or Ms. Davies or Mr. Jeffrey.." He interrupted her, "Hey, hey, hey. Who said that? We're still close to Quake, we can still see auntie Piper, and we aren't ever going to get rid of uncle Jake, I promise. Daddy is still going to work at the same place, you can see Ms. Davies and Mr. Jeffrey whenever you want." "Really?" "I promise."

Cole led his daughter through the house, showing her the first floor and going back into the yard. "See, you can have a trampoline here." She giggled in delight at that as she stared at the house in amazement.

Prue slept in her own bed that night, accompanied by both Prince George and King Theodore, after she'd had her milk and honey, and after he read her a few fairy tales. He walked into his own room and shut the door. These past few weeks had been insane. He saw Phoebe again and there was no way he could avoid seeing her now. Worse still, Prue was already attached to Piper. He knew Piper probably wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, but it scared him to suddenly be involved with that family again. He didn't want to throw his precious little girl into that world. He had no choice for the first time in his daughter's life and it scared the hell out of him.

"Dammit," he muttered before going to bed himself.

* * *

**A/N: So, this was just a little fluffy, filler chapter. I wanted to show a bit more of Prue and Cole together. **

**Anyway, the house that Cole bought is "A magnificent, new home on a prime Pacific Heights block combining a modern floor plan & extraordinary finishes and panoramic views. Outside, an impressive French limestone façade is highlighted by oil-rubbed bronze lanterns and double entry door with forged-iron grill accents. Inside, find seven Bedrooms, ten Bathrooms and opulent Public Rooms serviced by an Elevator to all floors. Extraordinary custom marble, granite and walnut finishes will be found in the Grand Kitchen and Family Room, Great Room, Wine Room, Wet Bar, Formal Dining Room and Study, and a large Family/Guest Apartment which shares a Southern Garden. Most uniquely, a rare, 2,500sf Rooftop Terrace features a Pent/Media Room and showcases outdoor Kitchen, Dining & several Living Areas, hot tub & shower all headlined by glorious views from Northern and Southern Decks. This home recently completed six years of construction in June 2009 and is completed by sophisticated lighting, security, acoustic, and mechanical systems." That's copied straight from the real-estate's website. Some other stuff it has: 3 fireplaces, Fitness Room, 2 Garage Bays, Granite/Stone Countertops, Hardwood Flooring, Library, Security System, Steam Room,& Wine Cellar. I know it seems extreme and huge (it is), but I sort of always pictured Cole as the guy who'd love excess. I also did my research. Pacific Heights is one of the best areas in SF, and it's pretty close to Pine St., which is where the sisters are supposed to live.  
**

**If you care, their house in CT is actually in Greenwich. I spent a weekend at a friend's house there recently and it's absolutely breathtaking, and also one of the best neighborhoods in the U.S. It's very safe. **

**As for how Cole has all this cash, that will all be explained shortly. I promise. **

**Reviews = Motivation = Faster/Better Updates **

**:) **

**Love xo  
**


	7. We Started Nothing

Phoebe rubbed her temples. Her and Cole had been arguing for an hour now, at least. He didn't bring Prue with him when he came over to talk to her and the only other person at home was Piper, who was not going to be meddling and stopping the arguing. Her throat hurt from all the screaming she'd done. She seemed to be screaming at him for everything he'd ever done to her. She didn't want to be yelling. Honestly, she was tired of it and she was worried that Cole would take this as a sign that they couldn't get along. Not that it bothered her that much if he thought that, she was bothered by the fact that those thoughts would mean that she wasn't going to see her daughter. She took a deep breath.

The arguing had subsided, thankfully, and they were just sitting in a silence now. Well, she was sitting on her bed, and Cole was leaning against the door. Their eyes locked when she looked up at him, but he looked away quickly.

"Look, Phoebe-" "Don't."

It was quiet for a while. She was happy to have this time to reflect on everything that she'd said. Now that she thought about it, if she was in his position, she would've never let him see their daughter. She wouldn't have done it then, and she definitely wouldn't have done it after what had just happened. She told him she'd never forgive him for robbing her of her daughter's first three and a half years, and that no matter what, nothing would ever change what he'd done in the past. He could claim to have changed all he wanted, but she told him that what he did when he was the Source, and what he'd done since their daughter's birth, was unforgivable.

She now realized that it was best not to irritate Cole in that way, because he'd pointed out that _she killed him. _He'd pointed out that _she _was the one who threatened to never allow him to see their daughter. _She _was the one who gave up and forced him to sign divorce papers. He also mentioned being possessed by the Source, but she didn't know if she believed that. She didn't know if she could believe that. That would make all of this her fault, and despite all the blame Cole had been trying to put on her today, she refused to think this was her fault. Yet, if he'd been possessed ... then he wouldn't have had anything to do with making her Queen or trying to kill her sisters. That would mean she'd killed him without trying to help him. She'd punished him further after he tried to come back for her and their baby. She'd given up on them and punished him for something that was beyond his control, and she refused to believe that.

"I just.. can't. I can't just put her into your life like that. She's a little girl, she needs stability. I need to know that this is all going to work out. We can't just keep arguing like this until you decide that you can't stand me again, and then she doesn't get to see you anymore. If you enter her life, that's it. You're in it for good. We're a package deal. Whenever you see her, you see me. You can't keep screaming at me and threatening me. We both know you're not going to be able to take her away from me. If you want to be in her life, you need to swallow your damn pride and do what I want. She lives with me. I'm in charge of her and you don't get to make decisions. Do you understand that? If I say no to something, you can't say yes. If I say she doesn't know about magic, you can't argue."

Phoebe stared at her ex. This all seemed very cruel to her. Why did he get to make all the choices in their daughter's life? It wasn't as if he was the one who'd carried her for nine months. Who did he think he was? Telling her to abide by his rules. Jackass. She wasn't the one who ruined them, he was. How dare he bring himself into this? She had a natural right to see her daughter, to bond with her. Despite how unfair this all seemed to her, she nodded her head. If she didn't abide by his rules, she would never get to see her daughter.

"Good. So, I think there needs to be a few more of these conversations. We need to work out all these issues. You need to forgive me." "It's not that easy. You hurt me so, so, so much." He nodded at her, "I know that, but this is a two way thing, Phoebe. You need to let it go, I did." She took a deep breath, "Cole, we can't be together. This doesn't change anything." Cole groaned and ran his hands through his hair, "Why is everything I do about getting you back? I'm not doing this for you or for us. I'm doing this for Prue." She just stared at her ex. Wasn't that the reason he was here? Had she really miscalculated? She'd thought the reason he was dragging this out by wanting to talk to her was that he wanted her back. Why else would he not simply allow her to see her own child? She blinked. In all the time she'd known Cole, he's never not wanted her. She couldn't believe it. Although, it seemed selfish to believe that he was pining for her this whole time when she hadn't been. She somehow just assumed he had been. "Look, maybe we can continue this some other time. I need to go pick up Prue before Jake decides to conclude what he wants and interrogate me about it."

She simply stared at her ex as he left.

* * *

**A/N: Hey :) Okay, so another filler. I hope it was enough for now. It's just a short little chapter necessary for the story's development. I know you mat feel as though there's some Phoebe-bashing here, but trust me, I don't hate her. I love her character, I just felt like the later seasons had her as extremely selfish. And anyway, I hate how she treated him (how everyone treated him) in season five. Since season five doesn't exist in my world, they have this anger built up. Well, you'll see. **


	8. About A Girl

Chapter 8-

Prue giggled as she tried to walk in the high heels. She loved being babysat by aunt Anna, because she had lots of pretty clothes and shoes. Of coarse, she didn't like it that she wasn't with her daddy, because her daddy was the best, but aunt Anna _almost _made her forget that her daddy wasn't there. She almost tripped but she was caught by aunt Anna. "Be careful!" Her fancy high heeled shoes were taken away as her aunt carried her to the other room. The girls had just settled down to watch _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,_ when in walked uncle Jake and daddy. Prue, being an enthusiastic child (sometimes called "energizer bunny" by uncle Jake, but she didn't know what that meant), jumped off the couch and ran into her father's arms.

"Hi daddy, I missed you."  
"I missed you too,princess." Cole set his daughter down as he walked into the apartment with Jake. Jake smiled at the girls, "So, did you ladies have fun?" Anna looked over to her husband, "Yes, of course we did. Is that pizza?" Jake nodded at his wife, "Yeah, Cole got it using his, uh, _special_ connections." "Oh, that's very nice of you,Cole. Let me get some plates and we can all eat."  
"Actually, I need to take Prue home. It's way past her bedtime." Prue shook her head at her father, "I'm not sleepy, daddy, I promise!" Cole laughed at his daughter's insistence, "I know, but I'm very sleepy and I need you to tuck me in." Prue looked like she was contemplating her options but nodded anyway and leaned her head on her father's shoulder. Jake walked over to the DVD player and took out the DVD the girls planned on watching, "Here, you can take this home with you and watch it with your dad, since you're not sleepy." Prue's face brightened at the thought. Anna brought Prue's sweater to her, which Prue took happily, along with the DVD. "I promise I will give it back to you," she said, holding up the DVD case for all to know what she was talking about. Her aunt and uncle said their goodbye's as she and her father left.

Cole had been right. Prue, of course, fell asleep in the car. Despite all how stubborn she'd been about staying up and watching the film, she'd still fallen asleep in the car. That was why it sometimes was okay to concede to her wishes, she always ended up falling asleep anyway. Not that Cole was used to conceding to other people's wishes. Being one of the best lawyers in the state certainly meant that he almost always won his cases. After the big Google vs. Microsoft case that he'd won last year, almost everyone wanted him working for them. Staying loyal to his firm ended up having great advantages - Jackman, Carter, and Clein (JCC) became Jackman, Carter, Clein, and Turner (JCCT). Of course, this all meant he had to go through various lengths to forge his own history. He'd given himself a death date (1947), a son (1917-1964), a grandson (1947-1992) and a great-grandson (1973- present). He was, of course, the great-grandson. It had taken a while to edit it all, but he knew it had to be done. It was the first thing he did when he came back from the wasteland. Well, after he'd tried to unsuccessfully get Phoebe back, that is.

He sighed. He still didn't know what to do about Phoebe. He knew it was selfish to keep Prue away from her mother and Phoebe away from her daughter. Protecting his own feelings at the cost of Prue knowing her mother was wrong, and he knew that. He'd always known that, and yet, he still didn't know what to do about this whole situation. Even if he decided to start letting Phoebe see Prue, how would he go about that? He'd told Prue that it was against the law to see her mother, and he didn't want to lie to his daughter. She was very smart and she believed everything he said. Always. He didn't want to betray that trust she held in him.

He looked over at his daughter. For all the evil she'd inherited, she was still basically an angel. He carried his little girl into the building and tucked her into her own bed. He walked back into the living room and took out his case files. He sighed. At least he was on the right side, now he only needed to formulate a good enough argument and he would win this. Three hours later, he looked up to see Prue entering the room groggily, "Daddy, why aren't you sleeping?" She walked over to the couch and sat down next to him.

"Daddy needs to win this case." His daughter yawned and looked up at him sleepily, clutching her stuffed bunny Prince George. "You always win, daddy. You're the best." He smiled at his daughter and kissed her forehead, "Thank you, princess. Now, why aren't you sleeping?" His daughter yawned again, "I had a bad dream."

He left his files on the coffee table and picked Prue up, taking her to his room. He got into bed with her, deciding it would be in his best interest to get some rest anyway.

The following day, he realized it'd been a few weeks since he'd gone to Quake and he was sure Prue wanted to see Piper. He was just too busy to leave for lunch that day and he felt incredibly guilty. After pouring through the files he'd been looking at all day, he had an epiphany. Unfortunately, it was not the kind of epiphany that would help him win the case, but instead an epiphany about what to do about lunch. He called Jake into his office.

Jake walked in with some more files for him to read, "Hey, I did that research you wanted. How's it going?" Cole shrugged at his friend, "I don't know. But, that's not why I asked you to come in. I need you to take Prue to lunch today. You need to go to a restaurant named Quake and ask for Piper. I haven't taken her in a while and I'm pretty sure she wants to go. I can't, and you're the next best thing." Jake laughed, "Oh, gee, thanks. I feel so honored. Well, it's not like I'm doing anything but bossing around the interns anyway, so -" "I told you to be nice to them."

"Depends on your definition of nice." Cole groaned, "Jake, you're going to scar the poor kids for life. What did you do?" Jake smiled sheepishly, "I might have pretended to be a demanding lunatic to one ... I made him go get me coffee twelve times." Cole groaned again, "Okay, fine, whatever, just be nicer from now on." Jake nodded at his friend. Cole knew that he was probably just going to be ignored and Jake would keep torturing the poor college students anyway, so there was no point in pressing the issue. Besides, Jake would be gone for a while anyway and those kids could catch a break. "Anything else? Or, can I go take the kid to lunch now?" "Fine, go. I'll make reservations for you."

"So, which one do you want?" He hadn't realized how difficult it would be to go to lunch with a three and a half year old. No waitress had appeared yet, and he had no clue how to ask for Piper. For a lawyer, you'd think he would be more resourceful. After reading the kids' menu to Prue, he waited for her to decide what she wanted, but it was taking to long. He stared at his own menu. Grilled Filet Mignon it is.

"I want vegetables." He looked over at Prue as she announced her choice to him. "Prue, that's not an option. Everything comes with vegetables." She looked at him skeptically and then asked that he repeat the menu to her. A young waitress approached, but she was noticeably not Piper. "Hi, I'm Jen. I'll be your waitress. Do you have any idea of what you'd like?" "Actually, can you send me Piper, please?" The girl looked terrified. He realized Piper was probably the owner of this place, too. "Sir, if there is a problem, I can try to resolve it for you. There's no need to get her involved."

He gave her his easy, charming smile - the one he used on his wife whenever she was mad at him - and laughed lightly, "No, Piper is a friend. I'd just like to see her. Don't worry." The girl, Jen, looked physically calmer. "Oh, okay. Um, I'll go get her."

Prue giggled as the girl walked away, "You scared her." A cocky grin emerged on his face, "I did, didn't I?" Prue giggled again and her face brightened when she saw Piper walk out of the kitchen.

"Hi aunt Piper." Piper smiled at Prue, "Hi, sweetie. How are you?" Prue smiled brightly at her aunt, "Good. Uncle Jake is taking me to lunch." Jake watched the two interact as he contemplated how weird this all was. Sure, he knew Cole was ... different, but no one's life should be this messed up, no matter what evils his demonic half had done in the past. Not that he completely understood how this all worked. Apparently, Cole used to be half demon and he killed people but that wasn't his human half and then he met Phoebe, and got rid of his demon half, which made him become the most evil of all demons, the Source of All Evil, and then Phoebe and her sisters killed him, and then he came back from the dead but he has new cool powers that he doesn't really use, and he's good now.

It was all so complicated that it made Jake's mortal head hurt. As far as he could understand, Cole's ex-wife, Phoebe, and her sisters were extremely powerful witches. Cole emphasized the fact that they were good witches who helped save the lives of innocent people who were being attacked by demons. He was still freaked out by all this information, more than two years later. Not that he would ever tell Cole that. No, no. Cole had trusted in him enough to tell him his deepest, darkest secret and Jake thought of him like a brother. He didn't want him to think that he couldn't handle these kind of secrets. Anna had not been as perceptive to the idea, and she didn't know as much, but nonetheless, she treated Cole the same as she always had. Well, except for the time she asked him to use his powers and take her to a meeting in New York because she forgot to buy herself a plane ticket. Cole had saved her job, which was basically her life, and then she was grateful for his powers, not fearful of them. The fact that he brought them pizza from New York nearly all the time was helpful, too.

"So, what can I get you two?" Jake realized Piper was speaking again. Sometimes, he zoned out like that. It was good skill in a lawyer, being able to compartmentalize and think of only one thing. Or, you could call it a one-track mind, but that would be a liability not an advantage. "I'll have the, uh, Grilled Filet Mignon, and the kids' vegetarian plate for Prue."

"Uh, you know that is basically sauteed vegetables with potatoes and rice, right?" Prue nodded at her aunt enthusiastically, "I love vegetables." Piper stared at her niece for a moment before she pulled herself together, "Okay, do you want your potatoes mashed or roasted? And your rice white or brown?" Jake looked at his goddaughter as she contemplated her choices. Prue was always very serious about decisions that she thought were big - like, what she was to eat, or what story to read, or what to wear. She must have learned that from spending time with Anna. Anna was a planner - she planned absolutely everything out, made tons of lists, and always mapped out the pros and cons. He assumed Anna had taught her to think things through in order to avoid regretting your decision.

"Mashed potatoes and white rice, please."

Jake was once again brought back to reality as Piper walked away. "So, kid, you like her, huh?" Prue nodded at him as she colored and took a sip of her juice. He noticed that Prue was very concentrated on her coloring and probably wouldn't be talking to him anytime soon. He sighed. What now? He was basically on a lunch date with a three year old girl who was more interested in coloring that talking to him. That, he was not used to. Before he'd met Anna, he was what some would call a ladies' man. In short, he got around. Granted, he was pretty intimidating in the court room and when he wanted to be, but he was smooth and charming when he wanted to be,too. Sure, some people would consider him a jackass, but that was always based on first impressions. He wasn't really a jackass. Well, not that much of one, anyway.

He looked over at Prue's coloring. He knew she was probably trying desperately to color inside the lines, but she was unsuccessful. She looked up at him with an angelic smile, one he knew all too well, "Uncle Jake, can I have chocolate cake after lunch?" She batted her eyelashes at him. Even if he had wanted to say no, he wouldn't stand a chance against her pleading glance. Not that he would've denied her anyway. The girl was having sauteed vegetables for lunch, she deserved some cake. "Sure, munchkin." Prue frowned, "Munchkins scare me."

"Oh, you watched the Wizard of Oz, huh?" She nodded ruefully. He stared at her, surprised, "You didn't like it?" Wasn't that a kids' movie? It was some-what of a fairy-tale, too. He didn't understand why she wouldn't like it. "No, it scared me." Oh, that's why.

After they'd finished their food, which Jake noted as delicious, Jake took her back to work. He dropped her off at the daycare area, where she went to play with the other kids. He watched her for a little bit, hoping he would make a good father in less than a year. Damn, that was such a short amount of time. He decided to save these thoughts for another six months or so, when the reality would be closing in on him and he'd have no choice but to worry, but for now, he could just go piss off the interns again.

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**A/N: Okay, basically another filler, but I promise these are necessary to the story. I need them in order to move things along. Anyway, it has been about two weeks since the last chapter, so Prue hasn't been to Quake in over a month. Anyway, I feel like I have Jake in here a lot, but he's important. He's pretty much the only family, other than Cole, that Prue has ever known, and he's Cole's best friend.  
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**So, I have no clue what kind of restaurant Quake would be, but it seemed sort of like a semi-fancy sort of place. I decided it would be pretty casual for breakfast and lunch, but fancy for dinner. Food is always phenomenal and rarely simple because Piper is the owner/chef. She only cooks at dinner, but she runs it. She has a chef and two sous chefs, and herself. I based the menu on a few places. I wanted it to be pretty kid-friendly during lunch&breakfast, crayons and all, but still upscale. So, I went with a combo of Hugo's in LA, Park Ave. in NY, and Michael's (NY&Santa Monica). That's a mix of upscale and casual places. Just imagine really good food. Hugo had a good kids' menu and they give you crayons and stuff. **

**Let's go with Chris Pine as Jake, shall we? Sienna Miller as Anna - just not when she looks like a mess :) Anna and Jake are both 27.**

**Reviews = Motivation = Faster/Better Updates**

**xo**


	9. Show Me What I'm Looking For

Prue finished her cupcake, and ran over to the carousel. She loved being at the park with daddy. She looked over to see her daddy watching her enter the carousel area and then gave her ticket to the nice man at the entrance. She jumped onto the seated area - the horses were too high and they made her feel unsafe. This way, she would still be going in the carousel, but she would be seated in a carriage-like moving object. She smiled, wondering who was going to sit next to her this time. The carriage was for two, after all. Normally, she didn't like being in spaces with new people without her daddy, but he was watching her and she knew he would protect her.

A little blond boy entered the carriage with her. She smiled at him, "Hi, I'm Prue." He stared at her for a little while. She thought he probably was afraid of new people, too. "My name is Wyatt." Prue smiled in satisfaction. She thought the little boy wasn't going to talk to her, he seemed very shy, but he'd told her his name. They didn't talk again for the rest of the ride, but it didn't bother her all that much. Even if he was just a little boy, she still didn't like talking to new people.

As the ride ended, she saw her daddy waiting at the gate for her. She did not expect, however, to see aunt Piper there, too. She saw the boy, Wyatt, run to her. She slowly walked over to daddy, who was standing next to aunt Piper, "Hi daddy, hi aunt Piper."

Piper smiled at her niece. What were the odds? She hardly ever took Wyatt to the carousel here at Golden Gate Park, and the one day she did, he ended up sitting next to his cousin. She hadn't expected to see Cole here. She was used to seeing him at Quake, and she had been prepared that one time he came to the manor, but she hadn't expected to see him at the park. Although, it probably did make sense. He was Prue's father, after all. She didn't expect him to just sit in a room and stare at Prue all day.

"Hi, sweetie. Prue, this is my son, Wyatt. He's your cousin." Prue stared at her happily. Piper noticed her look up at Cole for confirmation. Although Paige still hoped to find something on Cole and take custody away from him, it was obvious to Piper that the little girl worshiped her father and was worshiped by him. She didn't know what would happen if they were to be separated. Cole picked Prue up and brought her to Wyatt's level. Piper smiled at her son, "Why don't you two go play on the slide? Huh, Wyatt, do you wanna do that?" He nodded happily as she set him down. Once Cole set Prue down, clad in a plain white t-shirt and denim shorts, the two toddlers ran over to the slide together.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Piper tore her eyes away from the kids and looked to Cole when she heard the sound of his voice. "I... what makes you think I want to talk about something?" "You just sent them to go play on the slide together in order to get them away."

Piper sighed, "I.. I just.. Phoebe told me to ask you to call her the next time I see you." She watched as Cole inhaled deeply and nodded, "Fine." "And-" Cole groaned, "There's more?"  
Piper glared at her former brother-in-law. He was so impatient sometimes. "Yes." He looked at her expectantly. She took a deep breath, wondering if this was indeed pushing it. She told herself she wouldn't push it. She wouldn't force the whole reconnection thing on him. "I just thought that, maybe, since Prue and Wyatt have met, that they could have a play-date or something like that. Get to know each other. They're family." She watched as Cole contemplated. He finally sighed, in what she hoped was a good way, and said, "Does Wyatt use magic?"

She nodded her head. What would that have to do with anything? Was he afraid that Prue would use her powers on her cousin? "You need to make sure he knows not to use them around her. She... doesn't know about magic." "What?! Why would you do that?" "To protect her! You have no idea how many demons used to attack when she was a baby. Now, they know she doesn't have her powers, and either way, they're terrified of me. Besides, with everything she inherited, I don't want to tempt her by letting her use demonic powers this early. When she's older and understands the difference between good and evil." Piper nodded. She could understand the reasoning. In Chris' future, Wyatt had used his powers for evil. She thought it was strange that her son had never mentioned his cousin, but she hadn't exactly asked either way.

"Fine, I'll tell him not to use his powers around her. So, bring her to the manor one of these days?" She knew she said the wrong thing when she saw the expression on Cole's face, "Are you crazy? First of all, I'm not stupid, Phoebe is there, and I'm not ready to introduce them. Second of all, Prue doesn't like to be in new places with people she doesn't know very well. Third, your house is a demon trap. She'd be in constant danger there." "Okay ...then either me or Leo will bring Wyatt to you. Do you still live at the Towers?" Cole nodded, and Piper smiled triumphantly, "Great!"

Half and hour and some pointless chitchat about work later, Piper decided it was time to take Wyatt home. She watched him as he played happily on the slide with Prue, and then as the two tried to push each other on the swings. They looked like they were getting along well.

It was a week since he'd been at the park with Prue and seen Piper and her son. He'd called Phoebe, just like he said he would. Now, here he was, at P3. They decided that a public place would be better this time, to avoid the shouting match that happened last time. So, he dropped Prue off at Jake's and was now sitting at P3, waiting for Phoebe to show up. When she did though, Paige was with her. He nearly groaned in frustration. How could they talk in front of her? And, in any case, he didn't even like Paige.

After they exchanged pleasantries, an awkward silence swept over the three of them. Paige was the first to speak, "So."  
It was another while before Paige's boyfriend, date, fiancee, husband, whatever he was, came and Paige left the two former lovers alone. Phoebe smiled softly, "Why do I feel like I'm on a first date?" Cole laughed lightly, hoping to make the mood lighter. All the bitterness, anger, and resentment from their last meeting needed to be worked on. "Look, Phoebe, about what I said last time, I didn't mean to make it sound like I blame you. I don't blame you. The Source thing was my fault -" "No. You were right. I gave up and pushed you away. I punished you and you didn't even do anything wrong. The only thing you were guilty of was trying to protect me. I know that now."

"Phoebe, it's not your fault. I should have tried harder to overcome it and I shouldn't have treated you like crap after Prue was born." "Cole, you couldn't have tried harder if you'd wanted to. I should have seen it, I... I should have known. Yeah, you shouldn't have treated me like that, but I can't blame you .. I wasn't, I... it's not like I was the nicest person to you."

Cole sighed, "Phoebe, please don't blame yourself. There is nothing you could have done to help me." "But, if I had noticed, if I... if I let myself notice it... the way Paige saw it..I didn't want to believe it, but it was true.. and, I - " "No, Phoebe. I refuse to allow you to blame yourself. There is nothing you could have done. The Source would've just seized an opportunity to kill you and your sisters if he thought you were on to him." Phoebe stared at him blankly. He realized that she probably hadn't thought about the very real threat to her sisters and herself during the time he was the Source. If he had been himself, it wouldn't have been a problem, but he was possessed, and that meant that he wasn't in control. Although, he controlled the Source rather well... now was not the time to get cocky.

"I'm sorry. For everything." She looked up at him as he said the words. He saw her breath hitch and he guessed she was trying to figure out what to say to him. "I'm sorry, too. For everything."

He stayed for another hour after the apologies. They avoided the topic of Prue, for the most part. They told each other about work, she told him about recent vanquishes and certain demon problems, she talked about her sisters - he was surprised to learn that Piper had two sons, and Paige was engaged -, and he told her about his new friends.

While their conversation had been pleasant, and it was a step in the right direction, it still didn't make everything okay again. The fences were not yet fully mended, so to speak. But, he would work on it. He knew that eventually, soon even, he and Phoebe would be able to get along. He was pretty sure that no matter how much he loved her, their relationship was dead now. She moved on, they were divorced, and he hurt her far too much to ever expect her to take him back again.

Yet, maybe, in the future ... Thoughts like that weren't going to get him anywhere. His mind re-focused on the most important thing in his life: Prue.

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**A/N: This was pretty short, but the story is moving along :) I hope you all actually read these things, because the A/N actually takes me a while to write. Anyway, next chapter will be better! New characters, interactions, and ect. in the next chapter! I'm so excited to finally be getting this story off the ground. I started it such a long time ago, and then I took that two and a half year hiatus ... point is, it feels good to be getting somewhere with this story. **

**Give me any suggestions! I can't promise I'll use them all in the next chapter, but I will try to use them eventually if it fits into the story well. **

**I have no beta, so please excuse any errors. They are all mine. **

**I do not in any way, shape or form own Charmed or it's characters. If there's someone you don't recognize, I probably own them. **

**Reviews = Love = Motivation = Quicker & Better Updates **

**Love Always,  
A **

**xoxo  
**


	10. My Life Would Suck Without You

**A/N: Hello darlings! Thank you all so much for your continued support and for reading my stories :) I'm really trying to move the story along now, hopefully you'll all like what is to come. Love it, hate it, like it, dislike it - either way, leave a review and tell me! I want to know what you all think. **

**Also, someone asked why Cole doesn't date but Phoebe does ... first of all, I never said that, but yes, it's true that he doesn't. The reason behind it is that he's simply too busy with work and Prue. In any case, I also feel like Cole never got over Phoebe and he knows that she's the only woman he'd ever love so, he doesn't really see the point in wasting his time. You know?  
**

**Anyway, here is chapter 10! I hope you all enjoy it! :D**

**Oh, and as a warning, there's some (foul) language in this chapter. Not a lot, but I don't know what you're offended by.  
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Cole awoke and looked at his alarm clock. The panic that immediately overcame him was calmed when he realized it was Sunday. He got dressed in his black slacks and white shirt and went to wake up his daughter. He stood in the doorway staring at her for a few minutes. She looked so peaceful among the royal purple colored sheets. The deep color provided such a contrast to her light pink walls. They weren't even kids' sheets, but Jake bought them when he learned that purple was Prue's favorite color. He was also responsible for letting the toddler know that this was the color of royalty, thus inducing a royal purple frenzy. Cole was pretty sure she had at least half a dozen royal purple dresses. He sighed. He hated waking her up. She always looked so happy when she was sleeping.

It took them an hour to finally reach the cafe they always had their brunch at. She got chocolate-strawberry waffles and some cold milk, and he got an omelet. It was an hour and one messy toddler later that they finally went home. It took him a while to convince her to change out of the blue and white dress she'd worn that day. Eventually, he'd gotten her to change into jeans and a t-shirt, noting that a pretty dress was not proper playtime attire and that she couldn't play unless she changed.

He wasn't surprised that Piper was the first to arrive, her small blond son in tow. The boy, Wyatt, went to color in Prue's room as Piper looked around nervously, "So..." He had to laugh at how nervous she seemed around him. There had been a time that she'd considered him family. If he was honest with himself, he still considered all the Halliwells as family, but he didn't like to think of it. "Have a seat, Piper." She seated herself on the couch and placed the basket she'd brought with her on the coffee table. "What's in the basket?" She looked confused for a moment before she pulled herself together, "Oh, um..I baked cookies yesterday and I thought maybe the kids would want some later." "I'm sure they would. I don't know when Emma and Skylar are getting here but they're rarely late, so they should be here soon." "Oh, okay... are those the other kids?" "Yeah. Can I get you anything?" "Um, just water."

The elevator dinged as he walked towards the kitchen. He watched as his buddy Matt walked in with Skylar in tow. "Hey Skye, Prue is coloring in her room." That sent Skylar running off towards the room. Cole saw out of the corner of his eye that Matt had taken a seat next to Piper on the couch, introduced himself, and promptly turned on the tv before shouting, "Coffee, black."

Cole rolled his eyes, bringing Piper's water, Matt's coffee, and coffee for himself out into the living area. "I know. Matt, this is Piper, she's my sis-, uh, ex-sister-in-law." Matt turned his attention away from the television, "The bitch or the other one?" Cole laughed, he'd nearly forgotten what he used to refer to them as, "The other one." "Okay, cool. Nice to meet you." Piper looked between the two of them, confused. "Uh, nice to meet you, too."

It was less than three minutes of awkward silence later that the elevator dinged again. Cole practically jumped to greet the new arrival. In walked Kate with her daughter, "I know, this is usually boys' day but Will is so swamped with the new case that he couldn't come, so, I'm crashing the party. Emmy, go find Prue. She's probably in her room with Skye." Cole laughed at Kate as he watched Emma run off into Prue's room. There was then a small crash and scream, followed by Skylar's voice yelling, "I'm okay." The adults in the room laughed, but Piper's face held a worried expression, "Maybe I should go check on them -" Cole interrupted her, "Don't coddle him. I'm sure they're all fine, this happens every week."

"Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me not to introduce myself. I apologize for the little rant back there. I'm Katelyn, and you are?" "Piper. Nice to meet you." Kate nodded at her and looked over to Cole, who sighed, "She's my ex-sister-in-law." "I thought she was a redhead." "No, that's the other one." "Wow, I thought you didn't have to deal with in-laws anymore after you got divorced. Damn."

Matt laughed, "Oh, don't worry, this isn't the bitch one." Kate shrugged, "Same difference. I didn't even know you were on speaking terms with your ex. Tsk, tsk, Turner. How is this not office gossip by now?" "Recent development. Nothing is ever office gossip unless you tell Kevin." Kate shook her head, "I suppose so. So, Pepper, tell me about yourself." She took a seat across from Piper, who felt both increasingly uncomfortable and annoyed. "Actually, it's Piper. And, well, I'm a chef, and I own a club." "Any place I would know?"

Matt cut in, "Uh, what is this, the FBI? Stop interrogating her. If you're going to crash our guy day, then sit down, shut up, and watch sports. Cole, get some chips." No one said another word, because with the end of that sentence, Matt turned up the volume on the soccer game he'd begun watching, put his feet up on the table, and made himself comfortable. Kate sat down in her seat, annoyed with Matt, but it wasn't as if that wasn't a consistency with him. She never understood why her husband insisted on being friends with Matt. Sure, they worked together, but Matt was a complete immature jackass with commitment issues. Being a therapist, she knew these things. Of course, she might have been able to tolerate him if he didn't take every chance he had to call her a bitch. So what if she was a little mean? It was better than being a pushover.

Cole came back with the chips Matt had requested. Matt barely even noticed as he became increasingly entranced by the game on television. Piper looked around awkwardly. She felt like she should get out of here, make some kind of stupid excuse and leave, but she didn't trust Cole and she didn't know these other people, so she wasn't about to leave Wyatt here, alone. She didn't like soccer, she didn't like Kate, and Matt basically ignored her existence after he'd said hello to her, except for when he told Kate to shut up, but she suspected that was because he wanted to watch sports and not because he was defending her.

It was two hours before her phone rang. Kate had already left, so she felt a bit more at ease, but now it was plain awkward with just Matt and Cole. Not that it would have been any better with just Cole. But, luckily, her phone rang, and revealed a demonic attack. "Um, I have to go ... family emergency." Cole stared at her for a moment, and she almost thought he was contemplating offering his help, but he just nodded. She left with Wyatt, which coincided with the end of the second soccer game Matt had been watching, and she assumed he was leaving as well. She quickly called for Leo before she would end up stuck in an elevator with him and being forced to walk home.

Later that night, Cole's phone rang as he gave Prue her dinner. "Daddy will be right back, princess." He exited the room and answered the phone, knowing all too well whose phone number it was, "Phoebe."

"Hey, Cole. I was wondering if maybe we could talk about me seeing Prue sometime soon... I know you want to wait but -" "No, it's fine. I'll ask her what she wants to do."  
"Okay, great. Thanks." "You're welcome." "Goodnight, Cole." "Goodnight."

He walked back to the table slowly. He saw that Prue had already eaten most of her meal, and could tell she was finished. "Prue, daddy needs to talk to you." She nodded, putting down the fork she'd been absently playing with and walking over to the couch. She tapped the area next to her. Cole took a deep breath. As mature as Prue liked to act, she was still a toddler, and a very emotionally charged one at that. He hoped her happiness wouldn't lead to disappointment. "Prue, would you like to see your mommy next week?" She shook her head from side to side furiously. "Why not?" He knew that he wasn't an expert, but why a little girl wouldn't want to meet her mother, he didn't understand.

He was even more confused when she started to cry, "I'm sorry, daddy. I'll be a good girl, please don't leave me. I promise I'll be good. I won't eat any chocolate unless you tell me to, and I won't make a mess and -" "Princess, what are you talking about?" "You said that it was against the law to see mommy, and uncle Jake said that if I see mommy, then I can't live with you anymore, and I want to stay with you. Please daddy, why do you want me to go? I promise to listen and be good and -" "Woah. Stop right there." He pulled the little girl into his arms and let her cry into his shirt. She hiccuped a few times, but her sobs were consistent. He lifted her chin to face him, "Prue. Prue, stop crying, please. I love you. Don't let anybody ever tell you differently. But, remember that daddy is a lawyer?" She nodded, sniffling softly. He would murder Jake for planting this idea in her head. "Well, that means I can try and fix the law a little bit so that you can see your mommy. Okay? I'm not going anywhere, ever, I promise. You are the best daughter in the entire world and I love you more than anything else. Okay?" She nodded, sniffling softly again, and burying her tiny face into his blue sweater. He patted her hair softly as he attempted to calm her down. "C'mon. Princesses don't cry." She nodded, wiping her face quietly. "Promise you're never going to leave me?" His heart broke at the worried expression on her face. The fact that his little girl needed reassurance of this was a sentiment to his failure as a father.

"I promise. I love you too much." She nodded, a small smile slowly making it's way to her face, "I love you, daddy. You're the best." She gave him a hug as evidence of that truth. It took less than ten minutes for her to fall asleep in his arms. He decided not to tuck her into her own bed that night, instead letting her sleep in his room without even asking. He didn't want her to ever think that he was going to leave her. Ever.


	11. Sweet Caroline

**A/N: Hey, everyone! Here is the chapter we've all been waiting for :D It was really hard to write and I didn't exactly know where I wanted to put it... there's just never a right time, you know? I tried hard to keep the last chapter in mind when writing this one, because Prue has a pretty volatile temper and this is a huge moment. I hope it doesn't disappoint. Thanks to all those who have stuck with me, and welcome to all those just coming now! **

**Please remember to review! **

**I haven't written the next chapter yet, so more reviews will motivate me to write quicker :) Seriously, though, let me know what you think. It really helps a lot. I know I turned a lot of people off with the filler chapters, but it had to be done. I hate rushing things, so that sometimes makes things drag on forever, so sorry about that! But hey, it's better to have a well-developed story than a rushed hot mess, right? **

**Oh, and if you could tell me who you prefer Paige with, that would be great! I already know who I love her with, but you might be able to sway my decision...maybe ;) Let me know you won't completely hate my choice. Thanks :)  
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**As a disclaimer, I don't own charmed, or anything else having to do with it, nor do I claim to. I own the idea and the characters that are clearly made up.  
**

**Anyway, thanks for reading. I love you all. I hope you enjoy this! :D  
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**Paige walked into Quake. She felt happy. Cole told Phoebe this morning that she would get to know Prue soon. As in, as soon as next week. She was genuinely happy for her sister. For the most part, the past three and a half years had been spent in somewhat of a denial. The sisters rarely ever mentioned Phoebe's daughter, or Cole. Phoebe acted as if it never happened most of the time and although they all knew Phoebe loved Wyatt and Chris, they could see how difficult it was for her to deal with seeing them. It prevented her from forgetting what had happened. For a while, Paige had been mad at Phoebe for not wanting to fight it, for denying it, for acting as though the baby didn't exist. Eventually, she just tried to support her sister in any way, especially by lending a shoulder on that one day in December, the anniversary of the day when the little girl had first entered the world.

As she made her way to her usual table, ready to have lunch with Piper, she was stopped in her tracks when she saw Cole and the little girl she remembered from the store. Her heart nearly stopped beating. She had no clue what to do. Should she go and introduce herself? Should she act like she hadn't seen them? If she did go say hello, what would she say? It's not as though Cole liked her very much, and the feeling was mutual. Piper mentioned that Cole's friends knew her as 'the bitch', though she wasn't sure if he came up with that or if his friends chose that on their own. She wouldn't put it past him.

She saw Piper walk over to their table and start chatting with Prue. Paige took a deep breath. _Time to face your demons, literally. _She would have laughed if she wasn't so damn nervous right now. She slowly walked up to the table, "Um, Piper." Piper looked over to her, "Oh, hey Paige." Paige watched as Cole sighed, putting down his menu, and visibly resisting the urge to groan. She saw Cole took a deep breath and put an easy smile on his face, one she assumed was only there for show, "Prue, this is your aunt Paige. She's aunt Piper's sister." She turned her attention to the beautiful toddler with the shiny hair tied into neat braids. She wondered when Cole had learned to braid hair. "Hi,aunt Paige." She watched the little girl look to her father with pleading eyes, and then watched Cole sigh in resignation, "Piper, why don't you go ahead and get a different waitress? Prue and I would like for the two of you to join us for lunch."

Paige wasn't empathic, so she had no way of knowing for sure what Piper was feeling, but she assumed they were both feeling as though they could die from shock. She, for one, felt like she'd just fallen down the rabbit hole into some bizarre land where the family was on speaking terms with Cole. She guessed they kind of were, to some extent. Piper saw him nearly every week, and she was at his apartment yesterday for Wyatt's play date with Prue. She knew Phoebe was talking to him, granted it wasn't very much, but it was something. She herself had already seen Cole and tried to exchange pleasantries once in the past month. So, overall, you could say they were _loosely_ on speaking terms.

Paige sat down quietly, staring at her little niece. The little girl wore a pretty gray dress and pink shoes to match the pink bows holding her braids together. "So, Cole, when did you learn to braid hair?" She thought it was better than asking about the weather, and without Piper there to mediate, she didn't want to say anything that could possibly be bad. He looked up from his menu, clearly surprised at her question, and took a moment to recover, "I didn't. My assistant did it." Paige nodded and looked down to her hands.

She noticed Prue staring at her and sent the brunette a small smile. Prue spoke, "You're pretty." Paige smiled, feeling accepted by the toddler, "Thanks. So are you." "Thank you." There was another silence before Piper returned, "Okay. I got us a waitress. I never actually get to taste the food here, so this should be interesting!" Prue giggled at Piper, "You're funny." Piper smiled at her and patted her hair, "Yeah, you think so?" Prue nodded her head.

The waitress looked frail and intimidated as she quietly asked for their orders. Paige couldn't hide her surprise when Prue ordered an assortment of vegetables and a fruit cup. Cole's voice interrupted her amusement, "She likes vegetables." Prue nodded her head vigorously, "But not peas. I don't like peas."

By the end of the lunch, it wasn't nearly as awkward or painful as she thought it'd be. She felt like she was on the spot quite a bit because she was new, and Prue deemed her interesting. So, she'd been the center of Prue's attention.

Phoebe grilled her for information when she got home, but she really needed to get back to work and promised full disclosure later. Being a social worker allowed her to be late quite a bit, especially because she could claim it was because someone needed her. Either job-related, family-related, or fiancee-related, she had a relevant excuse for missing work all the time. Not that the fiancee thing would ever be true, because he was always at work during the time that she was, and he got home later than she did, and they didn't even live together yet. Still, her boss didn't need to know that.

A week passed, and the Halliwell Manor was bustling with anticipation. Today, Phoebe was going to meet Prue. Granted, she was meeting them at a cafe near where the towers were, so it's not like she would be getting some intimate one-on-one time with Prue, and Cole made it clear that, at least for the foreseeable future, that wouldn't be happening. Phoebe took a deep breath as she walked out of her car and towards the cafe. Her breath caught in her throat at the site of Cole, sitting facing the door, talking to a little girl with her back to Phoebe. Sure, Phoebe had _seen _the girl once before, but she'd never talked to her. She'd never met her, and besides, she'd seen the girl through a rack of toys, and standing behind someone's leg. Cole stopped talking to Prue when he noticed Phoebe's arrival, as she slowly made her way to their table. She smiled at the sight of the tater tots and chicken fingers being eaten by her daughter, she'd begun to think the child was a veggie-loving alien from the stories told to her by her sisters. "Prue." The little girl looked up at the sound of her father's voice, still oblivious to her long-lost-mother's presence.

Phoebe watched her daughter, sitting in a what was clearly a ballet outfit, pink tutu and all, but replaced with silver flats instead of ballet shoes. Her hair was tied in a pretty ballerina bun and Phoebe was finding it hard to decide whether she'd already come from ballet or was going there now. "Prue, your mommy is here." Phoebe came into the girl's line of vision and the girl looked up at her as she took a seat beside her. She felt uncomfortable under the little girl's gaze as the toddler studied her. Prue smiled, "Hi, I'm Prue." Hearing her daughter's voice for the first time was enough to nearly send her crying, but she sucked it up. She would cry tears of joy when she got home. "Hi." She had no words and it seemed that Prue didn't either, because she turned back to her food. Phoebe looked over at Cole who shrugged. She motioned for him to get a conversation going, to which he rolled his eyes but nonetheless obliged. "Prue, why don't you tell your mommy about your ballet class?" Prue bit her lip and looked up at her mother, "I'm a ballerina." "I see that, you're a very pretty ballerina." "Thank you. You're a pretty mommy." Phoebe felt like reaching out and touching her, but refrained, and instead said, "Thanks."

"Today, in ballet, Jane lost one of her shoes, but Jane is very mean and she thinks she is the best because she's four, but she's not. So, Holly said that it was a good thing, but daddy says it's not a good thing when people are sad, so I told Holly, but she said it was called karma and -" Cole cut her off, seeing that she was getting very worked up, "It's okay, princess. You were right, it's not nice to be happy because someone is sad." "But Holly is nice." "Sometimes nice people do things that aren't nice." Prue nodded, eating a tater tot and processing the information. Phoebe smiled at Cole. "Daddy, what are we having for dinner?" Cole laughed, "You haven't even finished your lunch yet." "Can we have ice-cream?" "Nice try. For dessert, yes. For dinner, no." She pouted at him, but relented once she saw he wasn't going to budge.

"Talk to your mommy, tell her something." She put down her tater tots and looked up at her mother, "I learned to read the word 'purple' yesterday." Phoebe's eyes widened, "Wow, that's great! Is that the first word you learned to read?" "No, I can also read 'red', 'hat', 'cat' and 'bat'." "Wow, you're really smart." "Sometimes, but there's still lots of words I can't read because I'm little." Phoebe nodded at her, tears welling up in her eyes. Prue's eyes widened, "Why are you sad, mommy? I'm sorry, I won't be little for a very long time! I'm almost four. Don't cry!" Phoebe shook her head, "No, sometimes, people cry because they're happy. I'm just very happy to see you." Prue nodded, "Me too."

It wasn't much longer before they dispersed. Cole promised to call her with another day to meet. Today almost felt normal. She carried on an easy conversation with Cole and was able to, finally, speak with her daughter. If this was what life would have been like, she wondered why she'd ever gotten divorced in the first place. It was so easy to slip back into her feelings for Cole. She shook her head, _He's evil._ Or, rather, he was. She'd only needed to spend five minutes watching him with Prue to know that he was no longer evil. She sighed. It was best not to think about what could have been. The important thing now was that she'd met Prue, and she would work on building a relationship with her darling daughter. Without her column to worry about for now, it was an excellent time to be meeting and spending time with Prue. Even if it did mean she'd need to see her ex-husband.

She broke down in her car, releasing all her pent-up emotions. The past month and a half had been unreal for her. First, she found Jason cheating on her. Then, he wanted to get back together, which led to them having dinner, which ended very badly. Then, finding it too hard to go to work after a short while, she took a sabbatical. Which, was better in theory, really, because then she'd had nothing to do. Then, she began dating her ghost writer, Leslie, who was great, and who she'd gone on her fifth date with just a few nights ago. And, to top it all off, Cole was back in her life. For good. At least she could find a great happiness in the fact that, even though she'd have to see Cole now, it was because that little angel was with him.

She smiled at the thought of her little daughter. She'd been so poised and graceful, well, as much as anyone could hope for of a three year old. For so long, she'd wanted to know the little girl, and now that she had the chance, she wasn't going to give up. Not now, not ever.

It was several hours later when Phoebe was finally alone at the manor. Paige was out on a date, and promised not to come home tonight, while Piper and Leo had taken the boys to Disney Land for a few days. She finished setting up for her date with Leslie, and sat waiting at the kitchen table. He'd even promised to bring a letter or two for her input.

Today was a great day.


	12. You're Gonna Go Far, Kid Part 1

Cole watched his daughter color. Her eyebrows scrunched as she tried desperately to color inside the lines. Failing, she looked up at him with her clear blue eyes and pouted. He smiled at the normalcy of the situation. Prue would have a normal childhood, Halliwell involvement or not. At least she'd had three years to live normally without any attacks and without the possibility of being corrupted by her powers. He wondered how Wyatt lived at the manor. Weren't they concerned for his safety? He had to be under constant attack. With Prue's powers virtually bound, baby Wyatt was the ultimate power. Cole wasn't sure if his own power could surpass that of the little blond. He had always been confident of his own power, and his own invincibility. But, from what he heard through the magical grapevine, Wyatt had killed his first demon at just ten months. The little baby had used his telekinesis to kill the demon attacking his family. The fact that Piper had a boy hadn't ceased to surprise him. He knew why Prue was supposed to be a boy - the Seer's chocolate had been used to secure that. If he thought about it, Piper did eat one of those chocolates ... but, still, Piper had not gotten pregnant at the time needed, and Phoebe ended up having a girl, anyway.

He wiped all thoughts of Halliwell from his mind. His attention focused on the little girl in front of him. Her own attention was back on the picture as the purple crayon made it's way on the page, coloring the frog in the picture. If it were up to Prue, the entire world would be purple. They stayed that way, him coloring his own picture as she colored hers, for another hour before the elevator dinged and Jake walked in. Prue smiled happily and ran to him, "Hi uncle Jake!" Her uncle patted her head, "Hey, kid."

It was an entire ten minute ordeal to get Prue out of the apartment. It wasn't that she was difficult or that she hadn't wanted to go, but it simply took forever for her to get everything she needed. He groaned. She would be a nightmare as a teenager. The thought of his little girl growing into a teenager scared him to no end. Sure, he was worried about boys and school and whatnot, but nothing compared to the fear of knowing that she'd have to get her powers by then. Especially if she kept contact with her very magical family. He knew she would be powerful, as the twice-blessed, first born of the next generation. Actually, if magical grapevines and prophecies were anything to go by, she was the most powerful being to ever exist. With all the power she had from the womb, he was scared to find out what she could do on her own accord. Yet, he felt confident that he would raise her well enough to fight against her evil nature by then. Nurture versus nature and all that.

He took out a folder from his dresser. It wasn't a legal file. It was information he'd gathered on a demon, one who was very powerful and a threat. He couldn't make a trip to the underworld to vanquish it with Prue in the house, but he couldn't let it roam free, either. With everything he'd done to protect her, he'd be damned if he let one ruthless demon ruin everything. Magic wasn't in the cards for her right now, maybe it would be in the future, but for the time being, she was, for all intents and purposes, a mortal.

Although, if he was honest with himself, that wasn't the only reason he wanted the demon dead. He knew the demon had made attempts on the charmed ones, and they made futile attempts to vanquish him. He would not let it kill Prue's mother, not after they'd already met, and not after what he felt over a year ago when he thought Phoebe had been dead. It was all over the news.

Yet, he saw her two and a half months later at the supermarket. He'd avoided her like the plague, and it only took him a few minutes to figure out that it was clear the sisters had changed their identities and were alive and well. He couldn't forget all the pain he felt when he thought Phoebe was dead. That very feeling was what caused him to accept the fact that he was not, in fact, okay with it, or over her, or whatever one wanted to call it. He was still in love with her, and her "death" helped him accept it as fact. He refused to go through all that again.

As he sighed, reading over the file with information on his target in the living room, a white portal formed near the ceiling. He stared at it incredulously and prepared an energy ball in his hands. From the portal, a teenage girl dropped and fell flat on the floor with a groan. "Ow." He held the energy ball in his hands, not throwing it yet. The girl had her back to him, and he watched her rise. She looked up at the ceiling as the portal closed and shouted towards the skies, "Okay, you guys suck! I get it, lesson learned, no magic for personal gain. Send me back now, please!"

She seemed to then notice his presence as she whirled around, "Oh." He watched her take in her surroundings before speaking, "Who were you just talking to?" She turned her attention to him, "Elders. Not that they ever listen to me." He raised an eyebrow and contemplated putting out the energy ball, but decided against it. "Who are you?" A smile graced her delicate face, "I'm surprised you don't recognize me, daddy. I thought you could sense me anywhere?" The energy ball was put out instantly upon hearing the word daddy spill from her lips. He stared at her in disbelief, "Prue?" She nodded happily as she looked around the apartment. "You know, I haven't been in here since we moved. I used to love it here." He smiled at her and embraced her in a hug, "Wow, look at you, all grown-up." She rolled her eyes and hugged him back, "You're so over-dramatic, dad. I'm still your little girl, I promise."

"So, uh, what year are you from? How old are you?" She sat down at the table and took the file in her hands before answering, "2019. I'm sixteen. What's this?" "That's just some information on a demon I was going to go kill... but, I won't, now that you're here." She smiled brightly at him, and her blue eyes lit up with joy. "Are you kidding? Demon hunting is so much fun! I'll go with you." She hopped up and seemed ready to leave, but hesitated. She threw a low-voltage energy ball at the couch. "What did you do that for?" He watched as she fixed the small mark with the wave of her hand, "I just wanted to be sure I had my powers. I never know what the Elders plans are." He raised an eyebrow but didn't say a word. Instead, he observed her as she finished reading the file quickly and left the folder on the glass table. "Okay, so, you shimmer, and I'll follow your lead?" She spoke of magic so freely, as if she was a seasoned expert at doing things like this. She looked so innocent, despite her dark hair and devilish eyes. He wordlessly did as she asked, still amazed and surprised at the prospect of his daughter being here, from the future.

Throkus was meeting with three demons when they appeared. Cole watched as Prue sent two energy balls at them immediately upon arrival and killed them on the spot. Throkus turned around, surprised. Cole watched Prue smile wickedly, as she sweetly greeted him, "Hi." Throkus laughed at her, and her smiled widened. "What are you going to do? Kill me? You're just a stupid little girl." She shook her head at him with a wide, wicked smile on her face, "Oh, hunny, no. I can do much more than simply kill you."

Cole watched as she waved her hand and froze him arm, literally encompassing it in ice. Cole watched her wave her hands again, blowing the arm to bits as Throkus screamed in pain. She threw three low voltage energy balls at him and caused him to fall to the ground, too weak to shimmer away. She kicked away the arm fragments and threw fire on them, "To make sure he doesn't regenerate," she added for good measure. Cole watched in astonishment. Such a sweet and innocent girl who found such pleasure in torturing the demon. He wondered if she was truly good, or if he'd failed at his duty to keep her away from evil's temptation. But then again, she did say the Elders sent her... his thoughts were interrupted by her voice,"So, what did you want from him? I mean, I can torture him all day, but if you don't need information, I kind of feel bad doing it. I already got my revenge for the insult." He laughed, "No, you can kill him if you want." She nodded, turning slowly on the heel of her flat black shoes, and throwing fire out of her palms. She turned away from the demon as he went up in flames.

"Look, I know what you're thinking. I'm not evil, I promise. I just ... I'll go crazy if I don't kill something. I have too much evil inside me to keep it all bottled up and risk loosing my cool around an innocent. Sorry." He smiled at her and shook his head, "No need to be sorry. At least you're using your powers to rid the world of evil. Just don't put your life at risk too much, okay?" His daughter smirked at him, sweeping her long bangs behind her ears, "Dad, I'm invincible. My life can't be put at risk. Come on, I hate being down here. I feel like I'll be overcome with evil thoughts and converted. I'll meet you in the penthouse."

With that, she shimmered away. He followed after her, finding her sitting at the table once again. "We should call mom. Since I'm already here ... wait, what year is it? I know it's before we moved out, so anything before 2007. And you know me, so after 2002. But then there are those non-speaking years and I don't really know the situation -" "We're newly on speaking terms." She nodded, "Okay, so let's get over to the manor and say hello. I'm dying to see Wyatt and Chris as babies." She shimmered away again, with Cole following her to the manor.

"Ah!" Piper screamed and blew Prue up just as Cole shimmered in. He saw Paige and Phoebe running downstairs as Prue reformed. "Lamp!" Paige shouted, throwing it in Prue's direction as Phoebe turned her attention to him, "Cole! What are you doing here?!" He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Paige, "Isn't it obvious? He's working with the demon to try and kill us!" From behind him, he heard a quiet "Ow" and a small giggle. The girls' attention turned to her again. Piper put her hands up, "Alright, tell us what is going on or we'll vanquish your sorry ass." Prue scoffed, "I'd like to see you try." Cole sent her a reprimanding look that she sighed in response to. As Paige opened her mouth to make a threat, Prue spoke again, "Besides, why would you want to vanquish your niece?"

A smile made its way onto Prue's face as the girls stared at her in confusion. Cole spoke for her, "This is baby Prue, from the future." The girls' eyes widened and jaws dropped. Piper was the first to speak, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I thought -" "I know. It's fine. Lamps thrown at me, I'm not so used to, but someone always attacks me when I shimmer in. Reflex, I guess." Paige smiled sheepishly at her and looked down at her shoes. Phoebe seemed to react for the first time, "You're beautiful." Prue smiled at her and walked to where the sisters were standing, giving each of them a short hug, "It's nice to see you all so young and actively magical. We're more used to doing it ourselves." Paige raised an eyebrow, "We?" Prue laughed, "Me and Wyatt." Her aunts stared at her before ushering the father-daughter pair into the living room and sitting them on the couch. Piper spoke, "I just baked some cookies, I'll go get them." As Piper rose to leave, Prue stopped her. "Here." In her hands appeared a plate of chocolate chip cookies. She held the plate up to her aunts as Piper sat back down. Paige asked skeptically, "So, what are you doing here?"

"Elders are punishing me for using my demonic powers for personal gain. They don't have power over them, so there can't be consequences or power stripping or whatever. I don't really see the point, but if I've ever learned anything about the Elders, it's that they always have some long, drawn-out reason that is supposed to teach me a lesson." She bit into her cookie as her aunts stared at her. She continued, "Oh, is Leo here? He could ask them for me so that I can get this over with and get back to my time. I have a chem test I need to study for." The sisters looked to each other and shrugged. Piper called out, "Leo! Leo, get down here right now!"

Bright blue lights appeared. Leo appeared and studied both Prue and Cole before turning to the sisters with raised eyebrow, "What is he doing here? And who is she?" Prue laughed, "Wow, I feel like I'm in Antarctica in here. What's with all the coldness, people? Nice to see you too, _uncle_ Leo." Leo stared at her and opened his mouth to speak but was intercepted by Prue. "I know, but you really shouldn't worry. I promise, none of your kids are evil. Nor am I. Just because I'm half-demon, it doesn't make me evil."At his stunned look, she added, "Telepathic."

Selective telepathy apparently meant that she could hear thoughts when she wanted to, and block them when she didn't.

A whole two hours were spent talking amongst the dysfunctional family as Leo went to check with the Elders. Phoebe's phone rang and the name Leslie flashed across the screen. Phoebe sighed, "It's Leslie. What do I say?" Prue rolled her eyes, "Just tell her you'll call her back. It's no big deal. I'm apparently not going anywhere anytime soon." The sisters exchanged looks, but Prue and Cole sat clueless. Phoebe spoke,"So, you don't know a Leslie?" Prue shook her head at her mother. Phoebe let out an exasperated sigh, "I guess he's not the right guy, then." Paige and Piper patted Phoebe's shoulders. Prue spoke again,"Okay, A. Why would you think any guy with the name Leslie is the right guy? and, B. I've never even heard of him so he's not important." Phoebe stared at her shoes. "Oh, it just got a whole lot more awkward in here," said Paige.

"So, how is Wyatt? Is he good? I mean, not evil?" Piper successfully changed the subject. Prue laughed lightly, "Yeah, don't worry. Chris was successful. Wyatt is a good boy."  
It seemed as though someone timed it, because a portal opened in the living room and out came a teenage Wyatt. "Wyatt!" Prue jumped off the couch and hugged her cousin. "Hey, everyone was worried and dad was being cryptic, so I used a spell to track you." She rolled her eyes, "We were just talking about you. Uncle Leo went up there to see why I'm here. This is so cool! I've never time-traveled before."  
"Sweet. Hey mom, aunt Paige, aunt Phoebe. Hey, your dad is here!"  
"Yeah, I literally fell out of the sky and into the apartment."  
"Oh, the infamous penthouse! The source was finally vanquished there ... you know, 'till you were born."  
"I'm very proud that you refer to your favorite life-saver as the source of all evil. I'll be sure to remember that next time you're getting your butt kicked."

Leo orbed in at that moment, "The Elders said - Wyatt?" "Hey, dad. Now, you were saying .." "Oh, the Elders said you need to help the sisters vanquish a few demons and then you'll be sent back. Throkus, Anderax, Polisio, and Usthazor. They're in the running for becoming the next source." She shrugged, "Piece of cake. I already killed Throkus today. Come on, Wy. Want to go kill the big-bad demons?" She didn't get to hear his answer because a demon appeared. The sisters and Leo ducked, Piper waving her hands from behind the couch. Prue rolled her eyes, preparing an extremely high-voltage energy ball as she waited for the demon to reform. She threw it at him, knocking him to the floor with a large scorch mark on his chest.

The demon growled, and Prue froze him as he tried to shimmer away and then unfroze his head. "Hey, buddy, what's your name?" He snarled at her, "Polisio." She smiled at him, "Perfect. Now do you prefer death by incineration, or death by spell? Or perhaps another request?" He stared at her angrily and let out another loud growl. She walked over to Wyatt, asking him to name any strong spell he knew. "Light and dark magic invoked here," He began, leaving his cousin to continue, "kill all those in this room who to us are not dear." The demon screamed in agony and exploded, as did the lamp. Paige stared at the now-vanquished lamp,"What the hell?"

Prue, Wyatt and Cole answered at the same time, "Chameleon."

Prue high-fived Wyatt, "Two down, two to go."

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**A/N: Hey kids! I just wanted to focus a little bit on magic this chapter. It is a show about witches, after all. I hope you all enjoyed this little change of pace. I'm thinking of doing a spin-off of Prue as a teenager after I finish this story, is anyone interested in that? Anyway, this was getting way too long, so I divided it into two chapters. **

**What do we think? Yes? No? Leave a review!!! Leave any comments, thoughts, suggestions, ect. **

**Also, I know I asked if there was anyone you wanted Paige to be engaged to but I only got one reply. So I'll just ask this: Is there anyone you're absolutely opposed to? That gives me more legroom. **

**Since we all know what teenage Wyatt would look like (younger Wes Ramsey), I think it's only fair that we get an idea of what Prue looks like, remove the spaces:  
**http : //tinypic . com/r/2m7gn10/5 or http : //tinypic . com/r/sg1mkx/5


	13. You're Gonna Go Far, Kid Part 2

**A/N: Remember to review. & I don't own anything. Obviously. **

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Prue sat at the Halliwell kitchen table, flipping through the book as she waited for her snickerdoodles to bake. To her left was Wyatt, and to her right was Piper. "Aha! Found him." The two looked onto the book with her. Piper read the description aloud, "Anderax. Upper-level mutant demon who betrayed the source and was exiled, only to become a powerful ally to the next one. He has the ability to absorb active powers when they are used against him but he prefers to kill his victims with a sword, or an athame. He is very powerful and there is no known vanquish... I don't want you two going after this thing alone." Prue stared at the book with an unreadable expression on her face. Wyatt nudged her, "Hey, maybe this is your lesson? Learn to do stuff without your powers? Spells, potions... those will work." She nodded at him, "So, I'm to assume that we're going to do this together? I mean, the sisters and I? You obviously weren't part of the plan, and anyway, you should go. People will get worried about you too, and you've already spent the night here. I can handle it. Promise."

Wyatt nodded, taking the book from her hands and searching fruitlessly for a spell. "I guess I'll just write one." He took the pen and paper that sat by the phone and began scribbling. Prue flipped through the pages and was disappointed to find her favorite spells and potions were not yet written. If only she could remember what went in them... or maybe if she went to magic school? She wanted her daddy, because, in her time, her daddy was her go-to guy for advice. Daddy had the answers to everything. She tried to remember anything about this demon from magic school but came up empty, and she could tell Wyatt hadn't heard the name before either. She would call her father later, or rather, he would call her after he dropped little her off at Emma's. Piper had left the room to call her sisters down and inform them of the demon they were facing.

Prue found the manticore vanquishing potion and smiled. Even in the future, it was one of the most powerful potions. She could make that and write a spell with the sisters ...  
Piper came back into the kitchen with Phoebe and Paige in tow. Wyatt lifted his head from the paper to greet them, quickly scribbled a bit more, and proclaimed that he was finished, "It's terrible but it will work." He ripped the paper from the pad and took it into his hands,  
"Here these words, here my rhyme,  
I speak from another time,  
One that is not truly mine,  
and now I seek to return,  
when this paper I now burn,  
Although this trip was nice and fine,  
please take me back to my rightful place in time."

He dropped the paper into the nearby candle and waited as a swirling blue portal appeared. He gave hugs to everyone and with a wave, jumped in. The portal closed behind him. Prue went to remove her cookies from the oven and left them to cool. She placed them to the side and took out a pot in which to make the potion wordlessly. She was trying to avoid talking to the sisters, because she knew she would probably give something away about the future. She adjusted the thin red bow headband on her head and straightened her navy polo shirt. She had been so upset to learn that she only had two options this morning: 1. wear the same clothes as yesterday, or 2. wear something of the sisters'. She'd obviously gone with number one. She didn't even like this outfit. Jeans, polo, flats. She dropped in the ingredients she could find, making her way around the kitchen like the way she did in the future.

"Mom, why don't you and aunt Piper get started on the spell and Aunt Paige will help me with the potion." When the other two left the room, Paige walked up next to Prue and sat down at the stool near the island, watching Prue mix the ingredients. "I think we should get some of his flesh, too. I mean, if you combine this manticore one, and the upper-level demon standard vanquish, we should be able to get him. I think maybe a paralyzing potion or something like that, to replicate the freezing power. He absorbs power, like the hollow, so I think it may be necessary for us to get the flesh. Maybe we could make some other potions to replicate powers, since we can't use them...." Paige stared at her niece in surprise. From what she knew, Prue had her powers bound at this point in time, but now, in the future, she was so .... magic-loving. "Prue, maybe we could stop talking about magic for a little bit. Tell me about you." Prue shook her head, "No, I can't. Future consequences." She dropped in the taro root and watched the steam evaporate from the pot. "Okay, I just need the flesh and some pickled pigs' feet. Can you make the power replication potions? I don't know how to do it."

Paige took out another pot and started mixing potions. She dropped in the ingredients, creating a shimmery yellow liquid and an electric turquoise colored liquid. The other sisters walked into the room, paper in hands. Piper smiled at them, "Okay. Here it is, do you want to read it?" Prue shrugged, "I'm not a very good witch, I just use my demonic powers for everything, but sure, give it to me." She took the paper into her delicate hands and read over the words.

_Powers of the witches rise,  
the power now within us lies,  
Anderax, we banish thee,  
go now, away from we sisters three,  
demon of hell and pain,  
die and never rise again. _

Prue nodded, "It's good. I like it. In case it doesn't work, I've got a vanquishing potion that we just need some flesh and pigs' feet for, and we have some power-replicating potions, too." Paige looked between her three companions, "Uh, guys, aren't we forgetting something? The book says he likes killing with a sword - he beheads his victims with a sword edged in poison that steals their soul to be given to the source and released into hell for all eternity. I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound so fun to me."

Prue sent a reassuring smile to her aunt, "Relax, it's not going to happen. We can get out if he tries, you orb whoever is closest to you, and I will shimmer with anyone who is close to me. Besides, I'm good with sword-fighting." The sisters looked at her skeptically but agreed to summon the demon anyway.

"Magic forces black and white,  
reaching out through space and light,  
be he far or be he near,  
bring us the demon Anderax here."

A tornado-esque swirl appeared in the living room as a smirking demon appeared. His skin was a midnight blue with red markings on his face. He had fangs and long nails that looked like they could reach Indonesia. Piper threw the paralyzation potion at him, freezing him temporarily. As he began to shake out of it, the girls all scrambled together and read from the paper. The fire forming around him caused them a great relief, but it was gone as quickly as it came. The spell hadn't worked. The demon conjured up his sword and raised it above his head, charging at Prue. She conjured a sword for herself, fighting him and blocking his advances as the sisters ran to get another paralyzation potion from the kitchen.

Prue was alone in the living room, having a sword fight with a demon. Her headband flew off as she jumped away from him. He snarled at her, trying even harder to beat her, obviously upset that it was taking so long. "I'm going to finish you," She whispered threateningly into his face as she blocked another one of his attacks. She could survive beheading, as part of her invincibility, but having her soul stolen ... that she wasn't so sure about. He laughed in her face. She kicked him away from her as the sisters ran into the room. She conjured a dagger as the sisters threw the potion at him. She cut off a piece of his flesh quickly and shimmered to the other end of the room as he unfroze. He screamed in anger and pain, picking up his sword and charging towards the sisters. They all dispersed into different directions, running from the demon. Prue watched with wide eyes as his acidic blood healed the wound on his neck and he shook it off. She shimmered behind him, shoving her own sword into his back and kicking his legs so that he fell to the ground. She shimmered next to Paige, handing her the flesh and signaling to get into the kitchen. Paige ran to the kitchen to finish the vanquishing potion as Piper threw a potion to burn flesh at Anderax. His skin began burning and he screamed out in agony but it only lasted a little while before his acidic blood counteracted it and healed him. He pulled Prue's sword out of his back and the wound closed up. He charged at Prue with his bare hands, and she shimmered away as he ran to her, sending him crashing into the dining room table instead. Phoebe shouted as she ran in the other direction, "Maybe we should use the source vanquishing spell!" Piper shook her head, throwing a potion or two to Phoebe, "No, it'll kill Prue." Prue shook her head, "I'm immune, try it!"

Phoebe yelled back, "We have to wait for Paige!" She threw a potion to blow up the demon as Paige came into the room with vials of purple potion. She gave one to each of her sisters, and to Prue. As the demon reformed, all four of them threw the potion at once. The fire disappeared again, leaving an angry demon in their wake. The girls said their source vanquishing potion, but nothing was working. He was nearly invincible! Perhaps he was?

Phoebe swung herself off the doorway and swiftly kicked the demon in the face several times, causing him to fall back. She kicked him in the gut and raised her leg to kick him again, only to be grabbed by his clawed hands and thrown out the sun room doors. "Mom!" Prue ran to the door to check on Phoebe, who was bleeding profusely. "Leo!" She was caught off guard when she heard snarls close to her. The sound of the demon's breathing sent chills down her tiny neck. She shimmered away immediately. He looked surprised to see her shimmer, but recovered quickly. Piper threw another blowing-up potion at him. As they waited for him to reform, she frantically screamed, "What do we do?"

Prue got an idea. One she hoped would work. She closed her eyes tightly and used her power to call for what she needed. Excalibur appeared in her hands as the demon reappeared. He threw an energy ball at Piper. "Paige, go heal mom and then heal aunt Piper. You can do it. I've got this... Go!" Paige orbed outside to Phoebe as the demon smirked at Prue, "Another? This time, I won't let you off so easy. You'll pay for what you've done to me." She kicked him award from her and shimmered behind him, bending his back and knocking him to the ground. She kicked the sword away from him plunged Excalibur into his neck, beheading him. His body ceased to move and lay lifeless. She took the blowing-up potion she had in her pocket and threw it at the body. It made a small explosion and the body disappeared. She moved away from the creepy head as Paige finished healing Piper.

Paige took a vial of the vanquishing potion from her pocket and threw it onto the head, which erupted into flames and then disappeared. Prue walked over to the cabinet where her headband had fallen off. After wiping the sweat away from her forehead, she put it back on. She once again looked like the picture of demure sweetness. One couldn't imagine that she'd just beheaded someone. Leo orbed in, "You called?" He took in his surroundings and added, "What happened?"

Prue glared at him, "Phoebe and Piper almost died, that's what happened. We killed Anderax." Paige shook her head, "No, it was all you." Leo looked at them with worried eyes, "But he's un-vanquishable, what did you do?" Prue pointed to the sword in her hands and motioned with her fingers that she'd chopped off his head. He stared at the girls wide-eyed.

Prue smiled and danced happily, "One more demon to go."

The final demon had been easy to kill. They used the leftover Anderax vanquishing potion and he'd gown out in a powerful explosion that sent everyone flying.

Prue said goodbye to her family as the portal for her return began to form. Her father had even come to say goodbye. After she left, the charmed ones looked to each other and to Cole, and then back to each other. That was one powerful little girl. Piper and Paige left the room, leaving Cole and Phoebe alone.  
"She's a great kid," was Phoebe's first line to him. He smiled, "Yeah. Beautiful, too." She nodded. They looked away from each other in awkwardness. "So, you should probably call Leslie back, he might get worried." She nodded, "I did. We broke up." Cole nodded and looked to the floor, "Uh, I should go." Phoebe nodded, but as he turned to leave through the backdoor, she grabbed his hand. His head turned to face her as he looked at her with confused eyes. She looked like she wanted to say something, opening and closing her mouth several times. In the end, she mustered a small, "Thanks. For bringing her here, for letting me see how great she turned out." He smiled and slowly pulled his hand from her grasp as he turned his full body to face her, "You're her mother. Despite what everyone in this house seems to think, I want her to know you."

She didn't know exactly what came over her or what happened next, but soon her lips were attacking his hungrily. Finally, she pulled away and they looked at each other, confused. Phoebe shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair, "No, no, no. That didn't happen. Forget that it happened. I don't know why I just did that. This doesn't change anything." Cole scoffed, "Dammit, Phoebe. You can't do that to me. You made it very clear that you didn't want to ever see me again and now you just kiss me like that, like the way you used to before everything went to hell. I made peace with the fact that you don't want me and that I'll always love you and that there isn't anything I can do about it, and that's fine. But don't play with my head like that. That's not fair! Dammit."

With those words, he shimmered away, leaving Phoebe confused, alone, and hurt.

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**A/N : Tada! Part 2 = finished. Whoo! I love love love this chapter. It's been my favorite to write so far and I love the magical element and the ending. Did you like it? Hate it? Love love love it? Leave me your comments/thoughts/suggestions in a review! **

**Anyway, what do you think about Prue? I'm hoping you liked her. **

**Okay, so next chapter is going to be good (I hope, I haven't written it yet.) I'm going to have Paige's fiancee come in, so last chance to tell me who you want her to be with/who you strongly oppose. There's going to be the return of little Prue again, and little Wyatt! We're going to see a bit more of Phoebe as well.  
**

**Thanks for reading. Please leave a review! **

**xo,  
Alexa  
**


	14. Happiness is Overrated

Prue stared at the book in deep concentration. She really wanted to read it, but she only knew two words on the cover - "cat" and "hat". She didn't know what the rest of the title said. Well, she did, because daddy read this story to her before, and she knew it was called "The Cat in the Hat", but she couldn't read it by herself. She walked around the penthouse. Her babysitter, Kyra, was very annoying. Kyra is 21 years old. Daddy says that that means Kyra is in charge and that Prue must do as she says.

Kyra goes to Stanford, which daddy said means that she is smart. Daddy knows someone named Dean who works there. Maybe Kyra is smart, but Prue didn't like her very much. Kyra didn't ever want to play or do anything, only read. And she never ever let Prue eat pop-tarts, but daddy let her have them when she was a good girl. Uncle Jake let her eat them whenever he watched her. Sometimes, Kyra read books to Prue, but they were sometimes in a different language like French, so it was not possible for Prue to understand the stories. Daddy told her there was a word for not possible, but she couldn't remember what it was. She would ask him when he came home from work. Kyra was cooking in the kitchen and Prue was sure she wasn't being watched, so she decided to go on an adventure. She made sure Kyra did not see her and went outside the door carefully. She didn't want to wait for the elevator because that might be enough time for Kyra to come looking for her, so she ran down a few floors, but then her feet started to hurt, so she decided that waiting for the elevator wouldn't be so bad. She frowned at the way her shoes looked. Daddy bought them for her only one week ago and they weren't as shiny anymore and that made her sad. She sat on the floor in front of the elevator to rest her tiny legs as she waited for it to arrive. She'd pressed the button ages ago, it must have been hours by now! Maybe even days! This was taking forever! She stared at the door, willing it to open. She kept hearing the ding of the elevator, but it never opened to let her inside. Then, finally, after waiting forever, the door dinged and the big metal doors opened. Prue hopped up and skipped inside happily. She took the elevator down all the way to the second floor, but then she got out so she could walk down and surprise Donnie herself. Donnie is big, and he works in the desk in the front of the building. Daddy says Donnie helps keep everyone who lives there safe because he makes sure nobody goes inside unless they're supposed to. Clarke also works downstairs. He always opens the door for everyone who comes inside, and takes packages for them. Daddy says Clarke is the doorman.

Prue skipped down the steps to the lobby and walked up to Donnie's desk. She was sure he couldn't see her though, because she couldn't see him. She hated being small. "Donnie?" She tried to be very loud and she hoped he heard her. She saw Clarke laugh and gave him a mean look. She saw Donnie come stand next to her and she smiled brightly at him. "Hey, Prue, what are you doing here? Does your dad know you're down here by yourself?" She shook her head, "Daddy's not home. I'm hungry, can I have dinner from _Eagle?_" Eagle is the restaurant conveniently situated only two buildings away. They have delicious food and Prue absolutely loved eating there. "But isn't Kyra going to make you dinner? I'm sure she's trying very hard." Prue gazed up at him with her best puppy face and watched as he gave into her demands, "Okay, okay, fine. What do you want?" She thought about it for a moment. What was it that daddy liked to order when they had dinner there? Oh yes, lamb ellington. "Lamb ellington." "You mean lamb wellington?" She nodded her head and waited for him to call over to _Eagle. _It is a fancy dress restaurant and it made her feel fancy to eat the same thing daddy got. Sometimes he got the truffle something but she couldn't remember the name of that and it didn't look as tasty as the lamb ellington - no, wellington. She would remember that. Princesses were fancy people and fancy people knew fancy words.

Donnie let her know that he'd ordered the food and that Clarke would go get it in a little while. Then, the phone rang and Donnie had to answer it. It was Kyra, but he told her that he didn't see Prue and that he'd call her if he did. "Donnie, you told a lie!" "No I didn't munchkin, I said I didn't see you and I don't. Not right now at least. Just stay over there and I won't be a liar." She nodded. Then, daddy came in the door, which Clarke opened for him. "Daddy!" She ran over to her father and jumped into his arms. "Hey princess, what are you doing down here?" Donnie answered, "She wanted us to order her some food, I hope that's okay sir." Daddy laughed and shook his head, "It's fine, but next time, just send this little monster back upstairs." Prue giggled happily as her father tickled her. A half an hour later, after daddy called Kyra and apologized, and paid her and let her go home, he went to pick up Prue's dinner from _Eagle. _She didn't really like it all that much, but if daddy ate it, she would too.

"Daddy, when are we going to see my mommy again?" She watched as daddy took off his tie and his jacket and sat down at the table with her. Daddy gave her a bowl of pasketi that Kyra cooked, and she was very happy to have something other than lamb wellington to eat. Daddy put his hands on his face like he did sometimes when he was upset or tired. "I, uh, it's complicated, princess." She pouted at her father, "Why?" "Well... because, your mommy and me didn't see each other for a long time before you saw her and it's... hard for us to be around each other sometimes." She scrunched her eyebrows, "But don't you love each other? Uncle Jake says you're in love with mommy." Daddy rubbed his hands on his face again, and she knew it was because he was upset this time. "Sweetie, I... it's hard for me.. because, uncle Jake is right. I do love your mommy very much, and it makes me sad to be near her sometimes." Prue hopped off her chair and climbed into his lap, "I love you, daddy. We don't have to see mommy if it makes you sad." Daddy shook his head,"No, I don't want to do that, princess. I love you too much. I know seeing your mommy makes you happy, and I want to make you happy. Okay? So we will see your mommy." She nodded happily and hugged her father tightly.

It was the end of a long day for the two of them as Cole tucked his tiny daughter into bed. He read her a story and kissed her forehead before leaving his daughter's room. He sighed. He realized today how selfish he'd been. His three year old daughter was more selfless and concerned about his feelings, and that was unacceptable. He loved that little girl more than anything, and she helped him realize that sometimes, there are people whose feelings are more important than your own.

He took out his phone and dialed her number. On the third ring, she picked up, "Cole, hey." She sounded surprised, as he'd expected. "Hi, Phoebe." "I didn't think I'd hear from you anytime soon. I was so stupid to kiss you like that -" "Just stop. Yes, you shouldn't have done that. You can't play with my feelings like that, not anymore. But, you know what, I'm not the only person whose feelings matter to me. I can't just ignore you because I feel like it, because her feelings are more important than mine. I'm her father, I can't be so selfish and I should have realized that a few days ago instead of ignoring your calls. So, why don't we just go ahead and set up a day for you to come and see her." There was a minute of silence before Phoebe's response, "Okay, um, I'm free on Saturday until 5, but after that, I'm pretty busy until the week after." Cole sighed, of course she was free on a day he had to work. This huge case he'd been working on was kicking his ass, and he needed to work late on Saturday. Besides, Sunday and Monday were his days off. Not to mention the two other cases he was heading, but he didn't want to wait an extra week for Prue to see her mother. It'd already been three and a half weeks. "Cole?" He'd seemingly drifted into his own world. "Well, I'm working on Saturday, my colleague's wife was supposed to watch her, so.. I guess you can come here and she'll supervise you while you hang out with Prue." "Really, Cole? Why don't you just let her come here and let me watch her for you?" Cole laughed, "Are you kidding, at the manor? Not exactly the place to be for a mortal toddler." He heard her sigh and almost felt pity, but he shook it off. "Fine. I'll be there in the morning." "Great. Anna will be here to greet you if I'm not."

He couldn't get to sleep, once again, as he laid in his bed consumed with thoughts of Phoebe. Damn it. Why the hell did she have to go and kiss him?

_"Cole, she never wants to see you again, just stay the hell away from us! You're evil." Paige's words hurt him but he could see Piper consoling Phoebe in the other room, helping Phoebe control her powers, the ones that belonged to the baby. She was four months pregnant, damn it. Who gets a divorce when they're four months pregnant? Especially when the husband doesn't care that you killed him. Who else was that forgiving? He didn't even care. He just loved Phoebe so much and he loved their baby so much. "Don't tell me what to do, Paige. I want to talk to Phoebe." "She doesn't want to talk to her, you can see her in court, and then you can leave her alone. Just go and once we get custody, we'll be sure that the baby never comes anywhere near you." The words cut him and he'd been so hurt, so alone, so sad, and so damn angry. _

There had been so many conversations with Paige and Piper, but none with Phoebe. He knew, as well as she did, that if she was the one to talk to him, she'd take him back, if not for the fact that she loved him, then for the fact that she was feeling their baby's desire to be near him. He remembered everything about those months all too well. Especially the court dates. He remembered seven month pregnant Phoebe showing up at court, with her lawyers and papers all claiming that one parent had to have exclusive custody of the baby because they couldn't stand to be near each other. 

_Landon Carter wore his best suit when coming to court to help his colleague and friend, Cole, settle this damned custody battle. Cole had been so happy when Landon offered his services. Cole was to become a partner soon after winning a huge case, and Landon was not only his boss and friend, but also a damn good lawyer. The judge asked, "Mr. Carter, why does your client believe he should have sole exclusive custody of the unborn child as opposed to it's mother?" Landon stood up with his natural air of confidence and spoke, "Your honor, my client is soon to become a partner at a very prestigious law firm and makes more than enough money to not only support himself but the child as well. Our offices also have a policy that partners and select lawyers may bring their children to work with them and either let them play in the daycare center, or stay with them in their own office. Mr. Turner would devote all his time to the little one. He is not only more able to provide for the little one, and give it more attention, but he has his own apartment with a nursery and child area already set. The Halliwell home, although I'm sure it's nice, is filled with too many people, especially with Ms. Halliwell's sister expecting as well. Ms. Matthews barely makes enough to support herself on a social worker salary, and with both Halliwell sisters on maternal leave and unable to go to their jobs - neither of which pay much - who will provide for the two children and four adults who will be living in the house? I'd also like to draw attention to the sister's various run-ins with the law, and the fact that they are mysteriously connected to various unsolved cases ..." Cole hated every moment of it. He knew he was going to win, because Landon's case was pristine, but he felt bad about bringing all those issues up in court. But, what the hell, he wasn't going to sit back and let her take his child away from him. Screw Phoebe. He didn't love her anymore, he was over it. Why bother with her feelings? He was going to adhere to her rules and treat her the way she'd intended to treat him if she'd won. He was going to do as she asked and cut himself out of her life, and take his child with him. _

Looking back, he'd been heartless, and he should have tried to cooperate with Phoebe, but she'd been the one who'd insisted on the terms and she was the one who was so against them ever seeing each other again. It hurt to think of that day. It hurt most to think of the satisfaction on the sisters' faces when they'd walked into the court room, and after Phoebe's lawyer had said her piece. They were so sure about winning, so smug about hurting him. But, he'd won, and he knew he was going to, and he knew he was a damn good father who adored his child. He'd raised her better than the sisters would have been able to, because although him and Phoebe raising Prue together would have been the best option, Prue being raised by the sisters' in a world filled with magic, not knowing how to control her demonic powers, not knowing how to keep herself from going evil ... that would be the worst option. So, he'd won, and he'd hurt Phoebe, and he'd been satisfied, at the time. Now, he felt guilty, but he couldn't bring himself to regret what happened that day. Did that make him a bad person? Was he truly evil? He sure as hell hoped not.

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Ta Da! Not much happened here, but I've been soooo busy, and I already gave you guys my spiel about why I hadn't updated, and I just wanted to put something up before school starts and I'm swamped with work. **Leave a review and let me know what you think. **I'm completely opened to suggestions, and I encourage them. Thanks for reading.

Love,

xoxo A


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